Thanks for playing along with the Starling Fallacy April Fools and not believing that the whole Starling plan was a get-rich-quick scheme. Retirement to the Bahamas isn’t happening any time soon we’re glad to say!
Whilst Joe’s ‘confession’ and our ‘36-page coffee table journal’ are works of fiction the ‘Fallacy’ is very much a real thing.
Born on the NSMB forum, the Starling Fallacy is the eloquently written work of Andrew Major and cites that “great geometry and shed manufacturing can overcome the performance issues of a true single-pivot bike”.
First up, we’d like to say a big thanks to Andrew for coming up with the Fallacy and an apology for running the piece without involving him from the outset.
That was our mistake and we’re genuinely sorry for any annoyance that’s caused him. We got a bit carried away and should have involved him in the process from the start.
Believe it or not, we actually see the Fallacy as the deepest of compliments and we were over the moon to see Andrew give it life. You can’t really make steel, single-pivot bikes without enjoying a bit of internet banter and a good debate.
Whilst the sentiment is poking a little fun at steel, single-pivot owners we see Andrew’s observation as homing in on why we (and we assume other brands like Starling) do what we do.
We make the bikes that we want to make. Simple, steel, single pivot. They’re like that by design, not necessity.
Our bikes aren’t lab-grown, million-pound-budget, space ships.
They’re not F1 racers or marketing-led, 3D-printed-marginal-gains promisers. Our bikes are handmade by four blokes in a workshop in Bristol and built to be tough, simple and bags of fun. We could put a link or an extra pivot on our bikes, we’ve chosen not to. Maybe one day, but not right now.
Our bikes are proven to be fast; they’re easy to maintain, and they’re zero hassle to set up, wash or fix. You can whack the bearings out with a hammer and replace them in a car park pre-ride, you can strip the whole bike down without killing a whole weekend.
Most importantly, there’s no doubt that you’ll have an absolutely bloody brilliant time riding a Starling. You’ll go fast, you’ll have fun and you’ll probably reach the bottom of your chosen trail with a massive smile on your face.
There’s nothing beyond your own enthusiasm or talent that will stop Starling from being fun to ride around a berm, through braking bumps, down the dankest tech or smoothest flow.
So where the Fallacy says that riders will “gush” about the prowess of a Starling we say, ‘bloody right’.
Our customers understand that they’re not buying the product of a billion-dollar multinational, and they love the ‘feel’ of the bike that’s created. That’s partly emotional buy-in but also because the bikes ride beautifully.
Our customers are smart, discerning folk that do a lot of research, soul-searching and hunting before they buy. We’re proud that they feel a deep connection to their Starling and an understanding of the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of their pride and joy.
Not convinced? Let’s talk about performance. People are obsessed with (and the Fallacy references) the “performance issues” of single pivot.
Sure, we’ve not won an EWS or a World Cup. We probably never will. But we have won an overall British National Enduro Series title, a Masters European Downhill Championship title, a Portuguese Downhill National, Ardrock, the Ex-Enduro and a heap of other events. If we’re saying race wins ‘prove’ a bike, we’re not doing badly so far. All of those tracks required the winning rider to pull their brakes and use their suspension. Quite often at the same time.
The media are also pretty prone to a gush or two over our bikes. MBUK, Pinkbike, The Loam Wolf, NSMB, BikeRumor, Enduro-MTB, The Radivist and a whole heap more have ridden and raved about Starlings. Brakes were pulled, suspension moved and riders had a blast.
A final thanks again to Andrew for the Fallacy concept and for being a good sport at our efforts to poke fun at it and to everyone that got involved.
If anyone is interested, we’re going to be auctioning off a print copy of the Starling Fallacy in the next few weeks and donating the money to a charity to help victims of the Ukraine Crisis.
We’ll announce that on social media soon, watch this space.
