I’ve been looking at a modern dual suspension mountain bike to replace my old 26″ Giant Reign 1 since December last year. I’ve looked at Pivot Firebirds, Specialized Stumpjumpers, Santa Cruz Tallboys and Yeti SB130’s, and too right, no doubt about it a new Stumpjumper 15 would be more than enough bike, and probably be the wisest choice, but it was love at first sight when I saw a Starling Murmur.
I went down the Starling Murmur rabbit hole about a month ago. I right clicked and saved a bunch of pics to my new Starling folder on my desktop. Watched all the vids and then one morning a Starling Murmur frameset popped up on Facebook Marketplace (I swear my manifestation powers are too strong!).
I saved the listing, but hesitated until last week when I reached out to the seller to let him know that I was the right buyer for this frame. Turns out the seller is a bike mechanic who owns and runs Jerry’s Mobile Cycle Care. He lives and services Taree and the mid north coast area. That was going to be a 5hr drive! We got chatting, and in the end the champ was more than happy to deliver it to me as he had some work on in Sydney.
Great dude, and I offered to take some shots of him that he can use for his business too.
I’ve been in touch with Joe McEwan, the founder and designer behind Bristol based Starling and the Murmur. This frame has an adjustable shock mount so it can be set up as a trail bike, or an enduro, but I wanted to at least first try the bike in a configuration that the frame designer intended.
Joe’s suggested I go for a 150mm fork and an Ohlins coil shock. He’s suggested the right spring for my weight which will allow me to get the most out of the mid travel and I’m also getting him to colour match the frame for a Starling stem to add even more birds to the build.
I’ve got a lot of parts in the parts bin that can go on this bike, but I think none of it’s quite right, and in the end this build is most likely going to be a slow burn. It’ll test my patience. That’s a good thing. The frame came in at a heavy 3.9kg’s (with hanger, headset, chain guide and rear thru axle), and whilst it’s UDH compatible I’m not sure AXS suits the frame, in fact I don’t think anything super modern suits it (thinking Middleburn cranks, or even White Industries? eeWings?!). No rush! I’m going to have fun with this one!