29″wheels
Hard-Hitting, Versatile Trail and Enduro Frame
135mm

Starling Cycles Murmur Frame

Our award winning, do it all, steel shredder. UK-made with 135mm rear travel in Reynolds 853 steel. Base price is for frame only, without shock.

Current frame lead time is 12 weeks, but we can often deliver quicker if we have frames in stock.

£2,222.00

Choose your frame

Add upgrades

BikeYoke Dropper Seat Post
BikeYoke Dropper Seat Post
£275.00
Ohlins RXF36 M.2 Air TTX18 Fork
£1,100.00
Ohlins TTX22M.2 Coil Rear Shock
£745.00
Hope Headset
Hope Headset
£90.00
Hope Seatclamp
Hope Seatclamp
£22.00
Clutch Handmade Steel Stem (Back Order)
Clutch Handmade Steel Stem (Back Order)

In stock (can be backordered)

£175.00
Stainless Steel Stem Spacer
£7.00

Starling Cycles Murmur

Starling’s original, award-winning and bullshit-free steel mountain bike.

The Murmur is a tough-as-nails, race-winning, adventure-seeking, do-it-all single-pivot.

It has 29″ wheels, 135mm rear travel and our award-winning, bullshit-busting, handmade steel frame that made with Reynolds 853.

That perfect compliant steel ‘feel’ creates a one-of-a-kind ride feel that’ll handle everything from your local singletrack to your once-in-a-lifetime season in the mountains.

Just two bearings to maintain. Zero marketing gimmicks or next-best-thing shithousery.

Review

The Loam Wolf
“The ride quality offered by the steel tubing gives exceptional grip and a comfortable ride. By fitting high-quality suspension units, the Murmur can be a seriously fast and capable bike.”

Review

BikeMag
“The Starling Murmur’s feel is second to none. Its steel front triangle is elegantly simple and sleek, round tubing speaks of the beauty found in function over form. The Murmur is a bike that’s built to be ridden, plain and simple.”

Review

Pinkbike
“A beautiful bike, and so unique. A rowdy, rock crusher. “

Review

The Radavist
“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. The way Joe and his team have set up this simple single-pivot design, there is little to no effect on the suspension from hard braking (anti-rise), yet with the new geometry tweaks, the Mumur climbs even better than before and still holds its own on descents.”

Review

Blister Review
” It’s a genuinely good bike, period, albeit one that offers a somewhat different combination of traits and ride feel than most other bikes in its class. The Murmur’s greatest strengths are in traction and composure on rougher, off-camber, slippery bits of trail — probably not coincidentally, the kind of stuff the UK is famous for”

Review

Singeltracks
“The Murmur stands out with its overall comfort and poise while descending. The first ride on this bike felt familiar, with an easy handling character and smooth-footedness on rocky trails that inspire fun riding. I carried it to the top of a mountain on the second ride and was as comfortable bouncing across the trail-less crest into the valley below as I would be on my personal bike.”

Starling Cycles V3 Frame Design

Our bikes eliminate complexity.

They are the counter-argument to mountain biking’s obsession with ‘more’.

With more pivots and more space-age materials. More acronyms and more marketing bullshit. The misconception that more tech means more fun. 

We make unapologetically simple bikes. We include only what’s necessary, nothing more. Zero marketing gimmicks and next-best-thing shithousery.

We’ve stripped away the bullshit and left tough, long-lasting, beautiful and hassle-free mountain bikes. Bikes made to ride, not polish and preen. Simple to ride and bags of fun.

But simple doesn’t mean basic, and it certainly isn’t easy. It takes a whole heap of experience, expertise, testing, refinement and raw passion to make bikes this good, and this simple.

Our full suspension frames are made using high-end, recycled steel. They have a smart and simple adjustable shock mount to vary travel. They have an aluminium seat-post insert to eliminate stuck seat posts. There’s a tough-as-nails anti-flare headtube, a neatly integrated chain guide, a machined main pivot piece that’s strong, stiff and easy to maintain. And they have SRAM UDH hangers, of course.

And to give you the confidence you need, our frames are covered by our 7-year warranty and crash replacement service. They can be repaired, refurbished, repainted and often upgraded to keep them charging hard for years to come.

Features

  • V3 frame design with updated technology.
  • 29″ wheels.
  • 135mm rear travel as standard.
  • Adjustable shock mount also allows 120mm/165mm rear travel (new shock required).
  • Front triangle hand-built in Bristol, UK, using Reynolds 853 heat-treated tubing.
  • Rear triangle hand built by ORA, Taiwan, using heat-treated Chromoly.
  • NEW: XL/XXL now with UK-made Mega swingarm for more balanced ride (455mm).
  • UDH derailleur hanger.
  • Up to 200mm rotor.
  • Fits standard tapered forks.
  • Boost rear axle spacing (fits non-boost with spacer).
  • Seat tube reinforcing strut on XL and XXL.
  • Stainless & numbered dropper port.
  • Starling headtube gusset.
  • Bottle mount in frame on medium & above.
  • 7-year warranty/crash replacement service.
  • Frame repair, refurbishment and repaint service.

Starling Cycles are made by real flesh-and-blood humans. The perfect blend of precision and passion.

Our frames are hand-crafted with quality, lightweight steel for an unmistakable feel and undeniable speed.

Our single-pivot suspension design eliminates complexity. A blast to ride and a breeze to maintain.

Geometry and sizing

Frame SizeMediumMediumPlusLargeX LargeXXL
Shock210×55210×55210×55210×55210×55
Rear Travel135135135135135
Max Rear Tyre2.6″2.6″2.6″2.6″2.6″
Fork Length150150150150150
Rider Size Range5’6″ – 5’9″5’9″ – 5’11”5’11” – 6’1″6’1 – 6’4″6’4″-6-8″
167cm – 175cm175cm – 180cm180cm – 185cm185cm – 193cm193cm-203cm
Reach450465485515545
Stack629629629638647
Head Angle65.065.065.065.065.0
Seat Tube Length410430440480510
Head Tube Length110110110120130
Chainstay445445445455455
Wheelbase12281247126012981328
BB drop3434343434
Eff. Seat Angle78.078.078.078.078.0
Eff. Top Tube*596611628663690
Max Post Insertion280300310340370
Standover #825832839843862
* Effective ST Angle measured at 750mm from BB Centre.
# Standover measured at top tube mid point.

Technical

Travel 135mm
(and adjustable to 120mm/150mm)
Shock 210x55mm
Headset Top ZS44/28.6
Headset Bottom EC44/40
Seat Tube 31.6mm
BB 73mm Threaded
Seat Clamp 34.9mm
Chain Device Integrated 28T-34T
Rear Axle 148x12mm Boost
Max Tyre 29 x 2.6″
Brake Mount Post Mount 180mm
Max Disc 203mm
Front Shock Hardware 30x8mm
Rear Shock Hardware 35x8mm
Main Pivot Bearings 6902 2RS
Bash Mount ISCG05
Derailleur Hanger Replaceable SRAM UDH T-Type Compatible

 

Reviews

1 2
Murmur photo review
Jamie
Love my Murmur - a crazy capable, versatile and reliable bike.
1 2

4 reviews for Murmur

  1. Murmur photo review
    Alessandro
    Very funny bike, eats the trails!!!
    I really love it
    Murmur photo review
    Nathan C
    I’ve worked in bike shops for close to 20 years. I always tried a new bike every year from a variety of brands and was never truly impressed. I’ve bee...More
    I’ve worked in bike shops for close to 20 years. I always tried a new bike every year from a variety of brands and was never truly impressed. I’ve been riding my Starling Murmur now for 5 years and it continues to make me smile. I now get more excited about swapping out suspension or drivetrain components to only enhance the joy this bike brings. I’m hoping it lives longer than I do. It’s a keeper!
    Murmur photo review
    Travis
    Now that I've got a few hundred kilometers on this rig, I wanted to chime in. Man! Believe the hype! I commute 50-60km each day on gnarly fire roads w...More
    Now that I've got a few hundred kilometers on this rig, I wanted to chime in. Man! Believe the hype! I commute 50-60km each day on gnarly fire roads with over 1,000m of climbing. The MM is the ideal rig for this terrain. I can super comfortably peddle the steeps in the morning and rip into some singletrack coming home. This bike is perfectly poised on everything I like to ride. Thanks a million to Joe and the Starling team!
    Murmur photo review
    Jamie
    Love my Murmur - a crazy capable, versatile and reliable bike.
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