Cross-country racing and riding might not be the most fashionable end of the mountain bike world, but it’s a scene that’s quietly thriving. That’s why we were keen to get in this 2019 Specialized Chisel Comp X1, because looks like it’s on point for covering big distances quickly, without costing the earth.

The Chisel is Specialized’s 29″ wheeled aluminium framed cross-country race machine and this Comp X1 model is the most affordable bike in the range at £1,400. The frame uses Specialized’s Smartweld technology, which results in an impressively light build as well as doing a very passable job of imitating the smooth lines of a carbon fibre machine.

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Specialized-Chisel-Comp-X1-first-look-review-101 (Image Credit: Jon Woodhouse)

Slender, unbraced seat and chainstays are designed to offer loads of mud clearance and a bit of give at the back, along with a skinny 27.2mm seatpost, though there’s internal routing provision for a dropper post.

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Specialized-Chisel-Comp-X1-first-look-review-103 (Image Credit: Jon Woodhouse)

The back end also gets Boost 148 spacing and a through axle to tie everything together and there are the usual cage mounts on the down and seat tube. joyously, the big S has gone for a conventional threaded bottom bracket too.

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Specialized-Chisel-Comp-X1-first-look-review-105 (Image Credit: Jon Woodhouse)

Up front, there’s an air sprung RockShox Judy fork dishing out 100mm of travel (90mm on the smallest frame sizes) which comes with a top cap mounted lockout. Fairly wide 750mm flat bars on an 80mm stem make for a pretty traditional cross-country cockpit, while a 69.8º head angle and 441mm reach (size large) round out some pretty standard race bike figures.

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Specialized-Chisel-Comp-X1-first-look-review-108 (Image Credit: Jon Woodhouse)

Kit wise, the drivetrain is a mix of Shimano’s 11-speed SLX mech and shifter on an 11-46T Sunrace cassette with some of Specialized’s own-brand single ring Stout cranks up front. Stopping is via the new non-series Shimano brakes, which get a much more compact lever. The tubeless-ready 25mm rim width Stout XC wheels are shod in FastTrack 2.3″ tyres, which look suitably lightly treaded and fast rolling. 

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Specialized-Chisel-Comp-X1-first-look-review-104 (Image Credit: Jon Woodhouse)

We’re keen to get out and get stuck into to a bit of heart-rate mashing race madness on this machine – in fact, Jon has already taken it to an old-school (distance) enduro ride at time of writing – and we’ll do a full review once we’ve cleaned the sweat and sick off the top tube.

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