Monthly Archives: May 2026

She’s an early riser, but that’s OK! This old man is up anyways!

Your day is made!

Took the Starling out to Loftus with Eugene who was on his old school 26″ TREK Y Frame and we did the 16km XC loop through to Engadine and back (mostly single track and fire trail). Just wanted to share some thoughts.

I was wrong about the coil shock feeling just like the air shock. The air shock just feels way more squishy, and the coil feels much more invisible. When I’m just pedalling at slow speeds I can look down and see the coil compressing with every single pedal stroke, but it’s only compressing a very small amount and I can’t feel it compressing or robbing me of energy. Where my Amflow feels like full squish, the Starling feels like my hardtail with suspension. Sounds silly, but the Starling just seems to mute everything without feeling squishy.

The Lyrik is amazing. I’ve always run Fox forks, but this thing is so active and plush on the small bump stuff. I was surprised at the end of the ride to find that I used up most of the travel too (not even possible for me on my Fox 36). Checking to see if my headset is loose is impossible with this fork without locking it out because when you hold the front brake and push down in the slightest the fork dips (VERY smoothly too).

The bike still feels heavy and sluggish but I managed to make it up the steepest fire road climbs without issues. Surprised me as I 100% thought I’d be walking up them. I was in the very lightest gear, but in that gear (30/50) the bike was happy to just slowly get to the top. I think the weight of the bike plus the muted ride feel and how silent the bike is are it’s main characteristics, but it’s got really fast steering, changes direction really well on single trail, plenty of grip on fast corners and small berms. It’s an interesting ride.

Eugene and I swapped bikes, man his Trek was a hoot! Full XC race position with arms locked out, the thin tyres and tiny wheels made it feel like a road bike on the trails. Unlike the Starling you could feel every single bit of the trail, and it felt super efficient too. Hopping back on the Starling I instantly felt that muted and heavy sensation again, but it rolls way faster than the Trek with less effort which further confirmed the Starling’s characteristics for me.

Eugene hasn’t owned a modern MTB yet, but he’s ridden my Norco and Amflow. His thoughts on the Starling were that the steering is damn fast and the ride was smooth and stable. The position was wild to him. He felt like he was leaning forwards so much more. He really loved the Starling and said the Amflow felt more like a tank in comparison.

I did notice that when we swapped bikes he pulled away from me. He’s a super strong rider (I average 30km/hr at Centennial Park on the roadie, he averages 35km/hr) so I think I just need to get stronger to get more out of the Starling so I can get into a heavier gear to get the bike moving.

We were having such a chill ride and so happy to be out on the trails (only shit thing that happened was running into a group of 4 old guys on e-MTB’s and the guy on an Amflow yelled out “time to get a real bike mate!” to my mate). The Starling rolls fast but it doesn’t feel fast. It’s not a rapid, poppy and nimble machine. It gets off the ground OK, but I’ve really got to work to get it off the ground. My hardtail feels faster, but Strava shows that I’m faster on the Starling with 4 PR’s on yesterday’s ride (and we were just chatting and chilling the whole way). All that said, the second (and much longer) ride on the Starling was great!

Day made 😅

Featured on The Radavist Readers’ Rides: https://theradavist.com/readers-rides-justins-starling-murmur-v3

She’s ready for a new home!

Fixed up my friend Abi’s Merida Juliet so we can get it up on FB Marketplace. She paid 99 Bikes $1,000 for a service (insane!), and recently her rear derailleur snapped. Thinking she would have to fork out another insane amount of money to get the bike back on the road for her next triathlon she instead bought a new bike, which she did not have to do as a new derailleur hanger costs only $40.

It’s a great little bike worth saving so I’ve replaced the bent derailleur hanger with a new one. Turns out the rear derailleur cage was bent so I also replaced the entire rear derailleur with a brand new one. I’ve also put new bar tape on as well as a new specialized Power saddle.

Nick and I dropped in to check out O’Spire in Mosman as they’re officially open now. The shop is looking really fleshed out! Lots of awesome trick bits on display too so be sure to drop in: 57 Harbour Street, Mosman, NSW 2088.

Bit of a muddy one, but absolutely had to get out there this morning to avoid a mental breakdown.

I had the fork and shock set up with the default settings. The coil feels great, but no better or worse than the Fox Float X Factory on my Amflow. The Lyrik however does feel way more plush than my Fox 36 Factory forks on the Amflow. I think the Lyrik works better for my 60kg weight (I have an issue where when I drop pressure on my Fox fork for a more plush ride I lose fork travel).

The bike is VERY quiet! No rattles, the drivetrain is dead silent in every gear and the Project 321 hubs are more quiet and a make a lower note than the Industry Nine Hydra2 hubs on my Amflow (which for this bike, I like!). The bike is very stable over roots and rocks. It climbs really well up tech when out of the saddle but man I can feel the weight of the bike. IE: I’m just not strong or fit enough to get up all the stuff I can get up more easily on my (much lighter) hardtail.

Fit and position is bang on. I feel very centred on the bike. So much grip! The Hope brakes are insanely powerful (and quiet even when wet). Much more powerful than the Magura MT7’s and a much lighter lever feel too (ergonomics wise I still prefer the Magura MT7 levers but those brakes give me arm pump). Absolutely no pedal strikes at all, very happy about that.

All in all I’m really happy with the bike. It’s not playful, but it is stable. I can really feel the weight of the bike once I’m pointing upwards, and on very slight fire road inclines it feels draggy and slow. I think a super light weight set of carbon wheels would help, but I’d like to keep this build carbon free, so for now I’m committed to the silver rims (I’ll just have to get stronger!).

Hangs at CCACHE today to have mechanic Jordan bleed my Hope brakes and also to gawk at Alan’s wild Starling Murmur! Jordan did a killer job on the bleed. Brake lever feel is so damn good. I’m excited to hit the trails next week!

Worth the wait!

My Starling Clutch stem custom painted to match my Starling Murmur frame came in the mail today. It’s beautiful. I love it!

Silver Protaper A50 bars from CCACHE also came in the mail. I really like how black bars tie in with the black fork, but I had to at least get these bars on to see what they looked like, and hey. I think I like them!

Bleeding brakes tomorrow, ride and a photoshoot out on the trails next Monday!