2025 Specialized Chisel Hardtail Competition – Full Review – Best Value Bike Packing Rig!!
New bike day. I’ve been searching for the perfect bike, and today I found it.
The 2025 Specialized Hardtail Comp.
My Iceland Rig
#iceland
@oldshovel
@GirlOutdoors
@BermPeakExpress
@JohnnyStrides
@toastyrides
@jennalexisko
@duzer
@slow_spokes
@WheelsonaBike
@WheelstoWander
@TwoWheelCruise ​
This is going to be the fourmonth review of the Specialized Chisel HD Competition. This is configured with the large frame. Going to go over a few of the changes that I made to the bike. So, uh the most notable is the new seat. I’m doing a lot of uh bike packing. I’m taking this bike to Iceland in about 3 weeks. So, I wanted to uh sacrifice comfort for I guess aerodynamics. I also put a stem extender to make it less aggressive. So, it’s raised up actually about an inch. And then I added a new handlebar that’s got a sweep to it. So, that really gives me a much more upright riding position. Much more comfortable for long distance. If I were to be doing some heavy duty off-road trails or racing, I would be switching back to the flat bar with the original stem. I’ve also got these Urggon grips. So, these Urggon grips give you really nice hand positioning. Uh when you’re doing long rides, I have a tendency of uh my hands going numb. So, it’s always nice to switch positions. I also narrowed the bar. So, I cut about 2 in off each side. Makes it nice when I’m in city centers or uh riding downtown. Allows me to kind of get between cars easier. I’ve smacked my handlebars off of poles in the past, and it’s very nerve-wracking when the handlebars get ripped out of your hands. Up front here, I have a arrow. Um, it’s really a tent holder for what I’m using it for, but it’s it’s a pure bag holder. and it should attach to your handlebars, but because I cut an two inches off each side, the mount, which are these two straps, are fixed. They won’t go pretty much any wider or narrower. And then there’s a bracket underneath. And when it’s attached to here, this portion is hitting off of my brake lever. So, uh, I couldn’t have it there. So, I ended up putting a extender bracket on, which has worked perfectly actually. And then underneath I ended up having to put a spacer, like a bump stop because the way it sticks out when I do have my uh gear up front here, the leverage is quite substantial. Uh, and it was moving it, pushing it into my brake line. So that bump stop has really helped assist in I guess keeping it keeping it fixed. I ended up adding just like a mountain bike mud guard which helps quite a bit. Like I’m on these gravel trails right now and it rained this morning so it does help prevent the debris from kicking up. I have two, one on either side. These are tail fin cargo cages and they’re specifically designed for forks that do not have mounting points. So, you can kind of see on both sides I have a carbon fiber mount. It’s kind of just a pinch mount. It’s got rubber bushings on the inside to keep it secure and they’re very secure. They they are effectively one with the fork. Um, and then you have the aluminum cargo cages themselves. They’re the large size. Now, I did have an issue when I originally purchased this. So, I bought these cargo cages aluminum with the aluminum brackets, but they ended up sending me a total of 12 different aluminum brackets. All of them were defective. The spot welds were uh all I guess they weren’t done correctly and they they kept separating. So, they ended up uh sending me a set of carbon fiber ones, which was nice. Uh these are the ShraMM level T brakes. So it’s 180 mil disc in the front and a 160 in the rear. They are great brakes. The big issue that I’ve run into and it’s been resolved is no matter how much you try to true the front rotor or the rear rotor, they always had a tendency to rub and make just this god-awful noise that would drive you nuts on long distance. Um, and it was worse under load. So, if you were accelerating, I guess the torque aspect of it would would shift the rim enough. I don’t know if it was just taking time to settle in. Um, but that’s been resolved. But what I have been having a big issue with uh, and it’s kind of systematically there is a squeal from the rear brake. Um, I ended up resolving this issue about two months ago, and it was as simple as removing the pads, taking a very, very fine grit sandpaper, sanding the top layer off, uh, and then doing the same on the rotor. So, I left the bike the wheel on the bike and I just spun up the tire with the uh sandpaper on the uh rotor to take whatever I guess glaze may have been on it and then used a little isopropyl alcohol uh and clean them all up. And that uh resolved the issue for a couple hundred km. Uh, and then funny enough, on my way up to this trail this morning, uh, it was raining, so my bike was on the back of my truck and a bunch of road debris got on the rotors and now they’re contaminated again. So, okay. So, I’ve uh flipped the bike around to give you a uh I guess view of the other side. Um, so I’m running on here, what comes stock on the bike is the uh ShraMM. Um, I don’t know the group set name, but it’s a 1×11 drivetrain. Uh, it’s great on the uphills. You could, this thing’s geared to go up a vertical wall. Um, on the flats and downhill, I have maxed out uh with I guess my rotation uh pedaling, which is is okay. Um, I can kind of pedal at about 40 kilometers an hour before I’ve I’ve kind of maxed out the comfort level of of spinning up my legs. Uh, the star on this bike of all things is this Rock Shock Judy Gold. It is awesome. So, this is a full uh air suspension fork with a complete through axle just like on the rear. Uh it is a complete lockout as well. So, you can see I have it set right now to uh locked out cuz I’m doing the gravel trails, but just a quick flick, you get the full suspension travel. And then the other way, you get a locked fork. I’m thinking of getting the conversion where I can have this attached with a cable like a dropper post up on my handlebar so I can kind of do it on the fly. But this suspension fork as a whole um I have it loaded with about 100 PSI of air and it is fantastic. Especially when you’re coming up to if I do have it on some of these bridge entrances for example, it just soaks it up like like nothing’s there. As a whole, I am incredibly happy with this bike. Yes, there were some growing pains. There was some breaking in more than I had originally expected for this bike, but as a whole, it is it is amazing. I also have so that I am taking this to Iceland in 3 weeks to ride the circumference of the ring road. So, it’s about 1,400 km. So, I’m bringing all my gear. I bought a it’s called the old man mountain rack. So it goes with a specific mounting point. So that is a a custom axle for the rack itself. And then it goes up to this seat post that you see there. And it is a complete structural rack. It’s I think it’s rated for 90 lb um with a like braking load of like 220 lb. And then the last thing on these bikes, so factory from this bike, you get the fast track uh control T5 in the rear and then the T7 up front. They are different tread pattern. Uh the T7 is specific for the front wheel, T5 for the rear. Uh both have different compounds and both have a slightly uh different tread pattern, one more aggressive than the other. I do a lot of gravel trails. I do a lot of single track. I have unfortunately had two punctures in about 1,200 km. Whereas with the Mezcow tires, I only had I think one puncture in about 7,000 km with two different sets. So, I am currently running inner tube just because that’s the way the bike came and that’s kind of what I I wanted to to keep running. Um, I will be going tubeless for my ride in Iceland. Just a couple other things. So, I do have a bike pump, which is just a low pressure bike pump for my tires. When I do fly to Iceland, I have to bring because you can’t fly with it, uh, air in your suspension fork or in your tires. So, I need my high-pressure um fork pump that I got to bring with me. And then I also have this feeder bag. So, this is the the cockpit of the bike. I do have my bell, which I need kind of when I’m riding through the city. Um on this mounting bar, I’ve got my uh light holder, my phone holder. Uh I was kind of just had a movie playing while I was riding because I’ve been on the on the trail for the past 5 hours. Uh and then my feeder bag as they’re they’re referred to. These things are great. So, I got my quick access to like a pen, a knife, some sunscreen in different storage. So, I’ve got my battery bank in here, my headphones, glasses, flower that I just picked up, and then in my rear um I guess cargo bag, I have all my tools. So, I have a lock multi-tool, a um like a Leatherman pocket knife. It’s got pliers and uh knife and wire strippers and all that stuff. Uh along with two tire levers and a spare tire. So, this is the fourmonth review of the Specialized Chisel HD Competition, and I would give this bike a solid 10 out of 10.