#Starling-cycles

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Starling Cycles Relaunches and Redefines Its Framesets

Radar

Starling Cycles Relaunches and Redefines Its Framesets

Framesets are Starling Cycles’ frame-only collection. They’re the roots of what the UK makers create as a custom, handmade framebuilder and the best-selling side of its business. Sure, they offer custom builds, too, but the framesets keep the lights on at Starling, so to speak.

This caused a moment of pause with how they market these bikes. The frameset relaunch’s intent is to create a clear and concise purpose for each frameset, let’s check out where they landed…

Radar

Starling Cycles Tackles Pedal Kickback

Is mountain bike pedal kickback a load of rubbish…? Good question. It’s a hot topic in mountain biking, and everyone is obsessed with the idea that our feet are getting blown off the pedals. A lot of bike media will tell you that single pivot bikes are THE WORST for pedal kickback. But is it actually true? Or is pedal kickback something people are worrying about for nothing? Joe from Starling Cycles tackles it all in this informative video.

Radar

Video: Introducing Hâf Land – Starling Cycles

Starling Cycles love supporting talented riders and the brand is proud to introduce its latest athlete signing, Hâf Land.

Hâf (pronounced Harve, by the way) is an 18-year-old enduro racer, from North Wales in the UK. She’s only been racing since 2022 but has already got a whole heap of really decent results in the bag, including a load of #1 spots at the UK’s Welsh Enduro Series.

Hâf will ride a Starling Twist this year racing the British Enduro Series, Welsh Enduro Series and maybe even a few Enduro World Cup events…

Double Feature Review: Alex and Nikki’s Starling Swoop Steel Full Suspensions

Reportage By: Alex Steadman, Nikki Nepomuceno, & and Josh Weinberg

Double Feature Review: Alex and Nikki’s Starling Swoop Steel Full Suspensions

The Swoop is Starling Cycles‘ versatile single-pivot steel full-suspension bike designed for 27.5 wheels. With its adjustable shock mounts, the Swoop can be set in “Trail” mode with 130 mm of rear travel or “Enduro” with 160 mm. Partners Alex and Nikki each have Swoops in respective enduro and trail modes that they’ve been riding for some time now. Below, they share a review of both iterations of this adaptable built-in-UK platform from one of our favorite bike makers…

Radar

VIDEO: Starling Cycle’s Joe Varndell – Full Time at MTB University

Not only is he super talented on a mountain bike, but he actually studies mountain biking at college. Yep – that’s actually a thing you can do now! Joe joined the Starling Cycles team a few years back and went on to enroll into BASE College in Scotland, studying mountain biking full-time.

BASE is the Borders Academy of Sporting Excellence (BASE) Mountain Biking Performance course, based out of the Borders College in Peebles, Scotland. Joe’s time at BASE is spent learning how to be a better rider and racer, but also sports science, psychology, coaching skills and everything you need to be an all-round expert two-wheel athlete. Because Starling thinks Joe is rad and the brand thinks his story is rad, it decided it was time to tell his story.

The Radavist’s Top Ten Review Bikes of 2023

Reportage By: John Watson

The Radavist’s Top Ten Review Bikes of 2023

If our Top Ten Beautiful Bicycles list serves as an indicator of your interests, our Top Ten Review Bikes speak to the readership’s curiosities and potential next bike buys. This year’s Top Ten Review Bikes ran the gamut from carbon gravel bikes with proprietary passive suspension to actual full suspension bikes and everything in between.

Let’s check out what review bikes pushed the needle for you this year!

John’s Favorite Products of 2023 (… and Top 10 Albums!)

Reportage By: John Watson

John’s Favorite Products of 2023 (… and Top 10 Albums!)

We’ve had a busy year over here at The Radavist. From the return to being 100% independent, launching our Group Ride subscription service, our Rad Bazaar marketplace, and adjusting to being a small business owner again, my free time has been limited. Yet, I can thank a few products for making my job and life easier this year, along with the albums that became the backdrop for my rides, so let’s check out my Favorite Products of 2023!

A Little Goes a Long Way: Starling Cycles Murmur V3 Review

Reportage By: John Watson

A Little Goes a Long Way: Starling Cycles Murmur V3 Review

Back in late 2018, I took delivery of a quirky steel full-suspension bike to review from a small framebuilding operation in the UK called Starling Cycles. Over the course of a few months, I rode the shit out of it in Los Angeles, where I was living at the time, and couldn’t get enough of it. As someone who lives metal bikes and loves riding trails, I hadn’t fully migrated to a full suspension chassis because I didn’t like the way the widely-available carbon models rode. The Murmur changed that for me. I reviewed the Murmur in April 2019 and immediately bought a V2 Murmur. 

Now living in Santa Fe, with arguably more technical terrain, I haven’t been able to put down the Starling Cycles Murmur; taking it high into the Sangre Mountains and beyond, this steel full-suspension bike really changed my perspective on the potential ride quality of full-suspension mountain bikes. Late last year, Joe from Starling reached out, saying he had a V3 frame for me to test out, and once again, I’ve been reaching for it nonstop.

Let’s look at my thoughts on the small changes the V3 underwent, leading to large improvements, and a broader perspective on steel full-suspension bikes below…

Endura Endura
Ripton Ripton
Thomson Thomson
Otso / Wolf Tooth Otso / Wolf Tooth
Brooks Brooks
Paul Paul
Esker Esker
Gravel Adventure Guide Gravel Adventure Guide
Rivendell Rivendell
SimWorks SimWorks
1Up 1Up