Month: September 2023

When you dive into Mike Ferrentino’s review of the Starling Cycles Twist V3 over on NSMB, you might, for a moment wonder if there is in fact, a review in there somewhere. And we mean no criticism when we say that – around the review is a beautifully written piece that’s packed with personal experiences, punk rock references and a touch of philosophising.

It’s safe to say that Mike has been bitten by the handmade mountain bike frame bug and opted to wax lyrical about the mullet-wheel mountain bike, the Starling Cycles Twist, that we sent him a month or two back.

Mike opted to run the Twist in is 135mm configuration but went all out in the damper department with an EXT Storia Coil unit.

The old saying goes that you can only make a first impression once, and it would appear the Twist made the right one with Mike: “Speaking of caning, holy shit! This bike is fun!”

Beyond the simple joys of the riding experience, Mike continues, saying: “As far as the alchemy of frame geometry and chassis feel is concerned, Joe has hit a sweet spot with this bike. It is easy to get up to speed on, and a whole mess of fun to ride.”

Hidden within this beautifully-written review, far removed from the usual dry, numbers-heavy reviews are the nuggets that help you really grasp what Mike has experienced. “This bike corners like a fiend.”

Then he gets onto maintenance and the pros and cons of single pivot versus a multi link trail bike from a turquoise-friendly brand: “You don’t need to spooge grease into your little Kashima dealiebobs every 20 hours on the Twist, because it doesn’t have any of that sh*t.”

“The fact that it is made by people who you can argue with via email, out of a material that is repairable and recyclable, in a place that isn’t China, that matters to me.” You may find your match with Joe, Mike… You have been warned.

“The Twist is a very simple but well thought out tool that does its job deceptively well. It is an absolute blast to get loose with; I honestly haven’t had this much fun on a bike in a long while. It handles far better than I expected, and is absolutely worthy of consideration as mid-travel trail ripper. It “feels” really good. The fact that it is made by people who you can argue with via email, out of a material that is repairable and recyclable, in a place that isn’t China, that matters to me. I hate internally routed cables , I am growing tired of bikes that make funny noises that get amplified by carvernous frame sections, and I am a sucker for filet brazing. This’ll do just fine.”

Read Mike Ferrentino’s Starling Cycles Twist V3 review on the NSMB website here.

Find out more about the Starling Cycles Twist V3 here.

Robert Johnston, The Loam Wolf’s European Editor paid us a visit in Bristol to find out how we go about producing our Starling Cycles handmade steel mountain bike frames and the difference between them and a mass-produced frame.

How handmade steel mountain bike frames are made, I hear you ask? Well, look no further.

“We recently paid Starling Cycles a visit in their new Bristol, UK headquarters. While we were there, we thought we would take the opportunity to experience first-hand how a frame goes from the raw materials through to the finished product, and figured we would share that with you as we don’t imagine that many people are aware of all the little intricate steps involved in the process, and we think it’s pretty damn interesting.

So, without further ado, let’s learn how to build a Starling front triangle.”

Check out the full feature over on The Loam Wolf here.

Find out more about Starling Cycles frames here.

Liam Mercer at Off-Road.cc has just published his Starling Cycles MegaMurmur review and there’s plenty of praise for our longest long-travel 29″ mountain bike.

There’s been plenty of talk of how confidence-inspiring our bikes feel and that’s no different in Liam’s case, saying:

“Once a climb is summited and the bike is rolled into a descent, that’s when the bike absolutely comes into its own. To put it short, it’s a monster that’ll very quickly take you to the finest edge of control.“

With a longer chainstay on the MegaMurmur to suit taller riders, the extra plus is overall stability, something that wasn’t lost on Liam either he found that:

“High-speed rock gardens were met with nothing but composure to the point where I was travelling at speeds way out of my comfort zone but rather than clinging on for dear life, my confidence was simply extended to match the ability of the bike.“

Wrapping up his review, Liam said this about our latest hand made mountain bike frame.

“If you’re looking for a beautiful hand-crafted, steel mountain bike that’s built for nothing but absolutely unshakable comfort and performance at speed, Starling’s Mega Murmur is one fast machine and a total hoot at that.”

You can read the full review on Off-Road.cc here.

Read more about the Starling Cycles MegaMurmur here.

On the far side of the pond, John Watson at The Radavist has written his Starling Cycles Murmur V3 review.

John makes no secret of the fact that he loves steel mountain bikes, and in particular, the previous-gen Starling Murmur that he rode and review for a long old while. Whilst he was fully sold on the Murmur V2, Joe managed to convince him that the V3 would be the better option.

After a few months on one of our handmade mountain bike frames, John offered this insight:

“My favorite thing to do on the Murmur is a left-hand jump on a local trail that lands you into a sharp, left-hook turn. Hitting the jump just right snaps you into a spring-loading position just before you fire out of the landing in the corner like a catapult.”

It’s not all about the descending either. John’s a big fan of his hardtail for maximum efficiency on the chunky uphills…

“however, with the V3’s geometry tweaks, mainly the 1º steeper seat tube and slightly higher BB, climbing got a bit easier. Now, when I hit a steep section of trail, I’ll scooch forward even more on the saddle, and dig in deeper. The bike practically walks itself up steep switchbacks and tight turns.”

“This new Murmur just proves that with the right kinetic engineering, proper geometry, and tube selection, a steel full suspension bike can offer the same, if not better, performance and ride quality as a carbon bike.”

Music to our ears John.

You can read the full review over on The Radavist website here.

To check out the Starling Cycles Murmur V3, head here.

Our friends in Germany, MTB-News.de took delivery of a Twist V3 earlier in the year and Michael Biernoth has put his thoughts on the ‘Landy Green’ mullet machine down on paper. Almost immediately his preconceptions about steel were discarded with Michael mulling, “does it always have to be carbon? The answer to this question can be answered unreservedly with no. A successful example of this is the Starling Twist V3.”

One of the many pros that the MTB-news team found with the Twist V3 was the “enormous grip and the feeling of security that could be felt.”

The final sentence of Michael’s review is likely all you need to know about his experience, saying, “if you are looking for comfort, a lot of traction combined with corner-eating agility and that certain exotic extra, you can find it in the Starling Twist V3.“

The team at MTB-News opted to run the 160mm version of the Twist, and were a little taken aback by the amount of attention it received on the trails. “Hardly a lap went by without me being asked about the exotic steel-framed bike.”

You can read the full review over on the MTB-News website here.

To check out the Starling Cycles Twist V3, head here.