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.
