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Joe battled his Ardrock ‘angover to dig deep into the all new Starling Cycles MegaMurmur – our new long travel 29er.

The MegaMurmur is our latest creation – long travel version of the Murmur with a longer swingarm. The latest video spends some time digging deep into the bike to understand the what and why of our new monster truck.

We’re also talking about Team Starling at Ardrock, why we teamed up with Moor Beer in Bristol for our most recent photoshoot and the new EXT Aria rear shock.

From around November 2022 onwards we introduced a number of rolling changes to Starling Cycles Murmur, Swoop and Twist frames.

These updates don’t change the visual ‘look’ of our frames but they’re significant enough that they mark the next step in the evolution of our designs and warrant a bit of extra attention.

We’re calling these latest designs ‘Version 3’ and any Starling Cycles Murmur, Twist or Swoop frames on order from here on out will be built with this update.

Let’s take a look at what Starling Cycles V3 frames offer…

Let’s start by saying that whilst these updates appear subtle, they are pretty significant.

The silhouette of our steel, single-pivot mountain bike frames obviously hasn’t changed, but they’ve added some really important evolutions that’ll just make riding and living with your Starling Cycles mountain bike a little easier.

We’ve not reinvented the wheel, so don’t feel like your V1 or V2 Starling Cycles frame is now out-of-date, but we have evolved our designs forward for the next few years.

We’re pretty proud of what we’ve achieved, particularly because they have such a subtle impact on the visuals of our bikes.

Trail and Enduro Modes On All Frames
The most significant change is that all V3 Starling Cycles Murmur, Swoop and Twist frames can now be configured into ‘Enduro’ and ‘Trail’ modes using an adjustable shock mount.

The previous design meant you needed to commit to ‘Enduro’ or ‘Trail’ at the point of purchase, whereas both can now be achieved from a single V3 Starling Cycles frame.

Just choose the mode you want when you order and we’ll deliver your bike configured for that setup.

If you decide that you’d like to change, our adjustable shock mount lets you switch between ‘enduro’ and ‘trail’. You’ll need to swap your rear shock, and potentially your fork, but you won’t need a completely new frame as you used to on previous frame designs.

Let’s say you start with a Starling Murmur Enduro, built with a 160mm fork. You might decide that it’s too much travel for your trails. By switching to a 210mm x 55mm shock you’ll reduce the rear travel down to 135mm, adjust the geo to be a little less ‘enduro’ and switch your bike to ‘trail’ mode. You could also then purchase a travel adjust kit for your fork – still cheaper than buying a new fork – and adjust the fork travel down to match your new setup. Hey presto, new bike without new-bike money.

These updates mean that V3 Starling mountain bike frames offer the following rear travel:

• V3 Starling Murmur – 135mm (trail) or 150mm (enduro)
• V3 Starling Twist – 135mm or 160mm
• V3 Starling Swoop – 130mm or 160mm 

And Updated Geometry
V3 Starling Cycles frames also see a number of tweaks to geometry, based on our experience and rider feedback.

The seat angle has been steepened for an improved pedalling position and, based on feedback, the BB has been raised a touch to add a little more clearance and a little more manoeuvrability to our very stable geometry.

V2 geo received plenty of praise from riders and the media and these light-touch updates for V3 simply refine those numbers to be even better. 

No More Seized Seat Posts
Stuck seat posts are a curse for steel mountain bike frame owners, and are now a thing of the past for our frames.

There’s now a new aluminium insert in all V3 seat tubes. No more panicky calls to the bloke in South Wales with the seat-post-puller, and no need to keep shoving grease down your seat tube every time you leave the house. You’re welcome!

New Colours

Starling Cycles frames now have even more customisation than ever before.

Tired of those boring paint jobs and lack of customisation offered by the big boys of the bike industry?

There’s now a whole heap of colour options to create your one-of-a-kind dream boat. Choose a ‘standard’ grey front triangle with black swingarm or upgrade and pick from 10 colours, including four premium metallic paints and three graphics options.

And nope, your front doesn’t have to match your back.

You can pick a colour for your front triangle and a totally different one for the rear, meaning you can create something really special. Powder Pink and Pumpkin Orange anyone..?

And More… 
There’s also now a stronger, anti-flare headtube to keep your frame safe when you’re really, really sending it (or forgetting to keep your headset tight).

There’s a neater and better-looking cast main pivot part and there’s an even easier-on-the-eye asymmetrical headtube gusset.

Last but not least, we’ve made the big move to shift the main pivot bearing into the swing arm. Previously located in the frame, placing the bearing in the swing arm makes maintenance easier and offers a wider and more robust interface.

Already a breeze to maintain, this update makes Starling Cycles frames even easier to live with than ever before. 

Any questions? Feel free to get in touch and we’ll get back to you.
Ready to check out the bikes? The complete collection is here.

Boy oh boy do we get a lot of questions about mullet mountain bikes.

“Is a mullet better than 27.5″ wheels?”
“Is a mullet better than 29″ wheels?”
“Should I mullet my mountain bike?”
“Are mullet bikes faster?”
“Can I convert my Starling Cycles Swoop/Murmur to Mullet?”
“Can I convert my mountain bike to mullet or mixed-sized wheels?”

We love mullets, or mixed-wheel, or MX mountain bikes and we make our own, the Starling Cycles Twist.

But as you’d expect it’s not as simple as mullet mountain bikes just being ‘better’ than the other sizes. And, as you’d also expect, converting your existing mountain bike to mullet wheels also isn’t super straightforward.

Time for a good chat about mullet mountain bikes, the Starling Cycles Twist and to answer once and for all whether you can convert your bike, particularly your Starling Cycles, bike to a mullet.

First up, what’s a mullet or mixed-wheel mountain bike?

Mullet wheels are also known as mixed wheels, or MX wheels.

Named after the classic work up front, party behind hairstyle, a ‘mullet’ is a mountain bike with a 29″ wheel up front and a 27.5″ wheel on the rear.

The idea is to create a bike that combines the benefits of both wheel sizes, offering the rollover of a big wheel and the bum-clearance and manoeuvrability of the smaller, 27.5″ size. Work up front, party behind.

So the theory goes anyway.

Our steel-frame, mullet mountain bike is the Starling Cycles Twist, built using the 29″ front triangle of a Starling Murmur and the 27.5″ rear triangle of a Starling Swoop. That allows us to build a bike that works well as a mullet, without any bodging or geometry compromises.

Some brands like to simply stick a 27.5″ wheel in the back of their 29″ frames and try to fix it with shock tunes and linkages but, it’s a bodge and rarely works.

So is a mullet bike better than a 29″ or 27.5″ bike?

Take your front wheel out of the bike, hold the axles and give it a spin. Move it out of plane as if you were going around a corner and feel how it moves in your hands. If you’ve got a 27.5″ and 29″ wheel, give both a go and compare how they feel.

On a bigger diameter wheel, the force required to move the wheel out of plane is greater, very roughly it takes about 15% more force to move a 29″ wheel out of plane than a 27.5″ one.

People often say 29″ rolls better, but, in actual fact, it’s that they track better. If you’re riding rough terrain, big wheels hold a line better and more energy is required to kick them offline. 29″ wheels take more energy to lean over than 27.5″ but once they’re leant over, they feel more stable and hold that position more easily.

So are 27.5″, 29″ or mullet wheels better?

It all comes down to your riding style and your frame size.

If you’re the sort of rider that sits on the bike, ploughs lines and tries to take the fastest and most direct route, you’re probably best suited to the 29″. You’ll benefit from a wheel size that’s less easily knocked out of line and you’ll probably be less interested in quick changes of direction vs straight-line stability. See the Starling Cycles Murmur.

If you’re a more playful rider, someone that likes to move around on the bike and trail, hop, manual, jump and try lots of lines then you’ll probably benefit from 27.5″. You’ll benefit from a wheel size that takes less energy to lean, move around and change direction. See the Starling Cycles Swoop.

And, this is where the mullet wheels setup comes in, in our case the Starling Cycles Twist. People’s perception is that mullet wheels offer some kind of perfect, golden ticket compromise of the two wheel sizes. Sadly, it’s just not the case.

Think of the mullet as fitting somewhere between the two wheel sizes, rather than being the perfect combo of both. They’re not better as such, just a mid-point of the two.

So Why Would You Choose a Mullet MTB?

Mullets aren’t a golden ticket/magic bullet/insert appropriate expression here. But, they are great in many ways.

It’s easier to get more travel from a mullet MTB, the smaller rear wheel offers more clearance and you can design more travel, more easily than with a 29″ wheel.

The smaller rear wheel also gives shorter-legged riders more bum clearance. If you’re buzzing your arse on your 29″ wheeled bike, you might find a mullet helps.

There are also benefits for chainstay length. Our 29″ bike, the Starling Cycles Murmur, has a 445mm chain stay whereas our 27.5″ bikes have a shorter 435mm chain stay. The shorter chain stay makes the bike feel more manoeuvrable, giving the feeling of being more playful, poppier and easier to corner.

There’s also an element of balancing your front triangle size, with your rear triangle. The length of the chain stay needs to match nicely with your front triangle to keep the frame balanced properly.

We’d suggest:

• XL size frames, we’d go for 29″ back wheel
• Medium size frames, we’d go for 27.5″ back wheel
• Small, we’d go for 27.5″ back wheel
• Large is somewhere in between, so should be driven by your riding style. Pick the size that best suits what you want to get from your riding and your bike.

Can I Convert my Mountain Bike to Mullet?

We get asked this a lot, and a lot of riders with Swoops or Murmurs seem to want to give mullet a shot by either swapping their rear wheel or their fork and front wheel.

The answer to that depends on what frame you have.

Can I switch my 29″ rear triangle to a 27.5″ rear triangle?

Murmur owners can, in theory, convert to a mullet by switching their 29″ chainstay to a 27.5″ chainstay.

This would essentially convert your Murmur into a Twist, with no geometry compromises. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough stock of 27.5″ swingarms to sell them individually so, for now at least we can’t supply them.

That might change in future, but for now, sorry, there’s no way of converting your Murmur to a mullet without geometry compromises.

Can you put a 27.5″ wheel into the 29″ swing arm of your Murmur to make it mullet?

You can in theory, but, the rear axle will drop 20mm, the BB drops significantly and the whole bike slackens out. It’s going to feel different and ride differently… and probably won’t be great once the novelty wears off.

Can you use the adjustable shock mounts to convert your Starling Cycles to mullet?

Again, afraid not. The adjustable dropouts just don’t offer enough movement to compensate for that 20mm axle drop.

Can you fit a 29″ fork to your Swoop to convert to mullet?

You guessed it, nope, sorry! This one is never going to work.

A 27.5″ fork has 20mm difference in axle height vs a 29″ fork and a 20mm difference in fork length. If you stick a 29″ fork in your 27.5″ frame, it’s going to be too slack and will ride crap. You could run a 40mm shorter fork, but, then you’re losing travel and probably down to something like 120mm.

So, technically there are ways to physically convert a mountain bike to mullet, but, it’s always going to come with significant geometry compromises.

In our book, the bike needs to be designed to be specific to the mullet wheel size, rather than bodged to fit.