Starling Cycles Mini-Murmur first-ride review - big fun in a small-travel package

Starling has dipped its toe into the world of downcountry. Here's what the new bike is all about.

Liam Mercer

Jun 25 2024

Rather than up the travel of the Mega-Murmur, Straling has dialled things back a bit with its new Mini-Murmur – a bike slated as a downcountry rig. While that 'DC' word might send shivers down some spines, the amalgamation of small travel figures, lightly treaded tyres, Starling's single-pivot suspension and steel tubing has resulted in the most fun bike I've ridden this year.

Late last year Starling teased us all with a sneak peek of a down-country concept bike and now, the concept is a reality as the brand has unveiled the Mini-Murmur. It’s a bike that’s come from what both customers and Starling’s founder Joe have been doing with their regular Murmurs - riding them with less travel and faster rolling rubber.

The Mini-Murmur can work as a 120mm suspension cross-country, trail or even downcountry mountain bike. But whatever you decide to call it, Starling says it's built to be fun and incredibly quick.

As the bike falls under the Murmur umbrella, the Mini-Murmur joins the Mega-Murmur as a machine that borrows parts of Starling’s 135mm trail bike but gets tweaks to take that very same handmade, steel-tubed frame and direct it towards a different riding style. For example, the Mega-Murmur uses the same front triangle but benefits from a new rear triangle, with a longer chainstay. This allows the Mega-Murmur to be equipped with more rear travel and a longer fork that slackens the head angle.

It’s the same with the Mini-Murmur but the brand has dialled things back. This frame is the same as the regular Murmur’s but, thanks to Starling’s ingeniously simple adjustable shock mount, it accommodates a shorter stroke, 210x50mm shock, resulting in 120mm of rear suspension. Complementing that is a 120mm travelled fork which in turn steepens the angles a touch.

What's very cool about this ecosystem, for lack of a better term, is that a customer can buy a Mini-Murmur and turn it into a Murmur with a longer shock and larger fork. Then by bolting on different swingarms, an owner can go as far as to turn the 29-inch wheeled Mini-Murmur into a mullet setup. Of course, this will all require quite a cash injection but the option is there, and it can save you from buying a whole new bike if and when the time comes.

Speaking of geometry, it's certainly geared towards the modern or progressive end of the cross-country spectrum and more akin to a real up-to-date trail bike. So on this large frame, there’s a 485mm reach with a 66.2-degree head angle and a 79-degree effective seat tube angle. With a 445mm chainstay, there’s a 1260mm wheelbase. As for sizes, Starling offers the bike from medium up to double XL to suit heights from 5’6” up to 6’8”.

The frame is built using Reynolds 853 heat-treated tubing and it follows Starling’s latest V3 design, so with a longer shock and fork, it can be turned into a Murmur with that adjustable shock mount, it gets an anti-flare headtube and an aluminium insert in the seat tube to stop seat posts from seizing. The main pivot bearing also sits in the swing arm for easier maintenance and a wider interface.

The Mini-Murmur’s rear triangle is built in Taiwan by ORA and is constructed from heat-treated Chromoly. What’s cool to see is that all of Starling’s frames are made of recycled steel, they’re repairable and can be refurbished and repainted.

Starling Cycles Mini-Murmur - Componentry

How Starling builds the Mini-Murmur deviates a little from what we’re used to from the brand. This time, the bike’s available as a frame only for £2,150 and then a frame with a shock for £2,549. But then, the Mini-Murmur is only available as a full build rather than a semi-custom build that we’ve seen before.

Costing £7,650, Starling kits the Mini-Murmur with a DT Swiss F232 One fork combined with a R535 shock. Shifting is provided by Shimano’s XT 12-speed drivetrain and from there, things get pretty cool as the bike runs Hope’s XCR four-piston brakes matched to 180mm rotors.

The Hope theme continues with the brand’s latest carbon crank, its TR stem and the Barnoldswick brand sorts the headset, clamps and other trinkets.

DT Swiss also covers the wheels, providing the XMC 1501 carbon hoops, which are shod with Michelin’s Wild XC tyres. There’s a Renthal Fatbar Lite bar and a Bike Yoke Revive 3 dropper post.

All bikes come covered with Starling’s seven-year warranty, a crash replacement service and access to the repaint as mentioned earlier and refurbishment services. That warranty won’t apply to second-hand owners but they will have access to the repair, repaint and refurb.

Starling Cycles Mini-Murmur - Ride impressions

As I’ve said before, it takes that Murmur foundation but Starling has draped it with faster rolling tyres and suspension figures that are now commonplace in modern cross-country. The geometry pushes the bike well into the trail genre. Of course, the bike’s made from steel so it’s far from XC race bike weight but because of these specification choices, it has a real racy twinkle.

After my day with the Mini-Murmur, riding beautifully dry and rather varied trails comprising an excellent mix of gradual flow with white-knuckled steep tech, I came away with a sense that versatility is the vision behind Starling’s latest steed.

That’s because first and foremost, it’s a keen pedaller. I won’t lie and say that it’s the best climber in the world but the super simple single-pivot platform gives up only a little bit of travel to pedal bob, so not every watt is transferred to the rear wheel. However, that’s no bad thing as the suspension remains active as the bike is cranked uphill. It’s comfortable but grippy. A click or two of low-speed compression damping would likely liven up the pedalling.

Of course, the low-profile Michelin rubber plays a vital role in the Mini-Murmur’s pedalling capability. But when combined with the suspension, it makes for a very comfortable platform to sit and spin, even when the gradient gets undesirable and the heart rate rises. And when the climb gets technical, the bike’s well-behaved as both wheels remain planted and grip comes in spades thanks to that steep seat tube and comparatively reserved head tube.

However, where the bike feels more 'cross-country' is in the shorter axle-to-crown of the 120mm fork. It noticeably shifts weight over the front wheel which means great things for predictability and response when climbing.

The pairing of 120mm of travel and Starling’s no-frills frame design and cross-country-specific tyres makes the Mini-Murmur bonkers fast. There’s a real theme that runs through the bike – responsiveness. This is felt in the bike’s generous reaction to post-corner pedal strokes and sharp point-and-shoot steering character.

The marriage of fast rolling tyres with a stable pedalling platform makes for a machine that gathers speed as if it’s nothing. It doesn’t require much effort to get the bike up to speed, where the DT Swiss suspension begins to soak up trail imperfections, adding to a comfortable level of stability.

But the harder you push it, the more the bike gives back as hard pumps into berms slingshot the bike into orbit – there’s heaps of support in the bike’s rear end. That’s compared to the Mega-Murmur which is decidedly linear, and rightfully so given its intention.

The Mini-Murmur is more than capable and encouraging when finding its limits mostly due to its trail-bike length. Tipping it into steeper and lumpier sections was rather welcoming albeit nerve-wracking owing to the lack of braking power from the tyres. The compliance in the frame compliments the suspension, keeping the bike somewhat composed while taking trickier bits of trail well within its stride.

However, the faster it is ridden, the more its tyres get overwhelmed and, while that might sound horrifying, this trait adds to the charm. During my testing, the tyres would break traction but regain purchase milliseconds later, which made the experience thrilling. You’ll need to be mindful of the brakes as the lack of traction throws a hair-raising curveball that forces commitment and got me riding with every ounce of skill I could muster.

Because of that, it's a bike with a lively ride quality. It's far from the comparatively autonomous ride common on larger-travelled trail bikes – it revels in speed and conscious grip management.

The Starling Mini-Murmur welcomes big backcountry epics through its easy-going pedalling platform and comfortable geo. Its lively and quick steering instils in the rider a level of confidence that encourages going deeper than before and exploring the limits of adhesion. The Mini-Murmur is ridiculous fun and I’d go as far as to say that it’s the most fun I’ve had with a bike this year, at least.

www.starlingcycles.com

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Liam Mercer

Tech Editor here at off.road.cc Liam can also be found photographing bikes as well as revelling in cycling's intricacies. Whether it's gravel, mountain, or e-MTB as long as it's a bike on dirt, he's happy.

off-road.cc

Starling Cycles Mini-Murmur first-ride review - big fun in a small-travel package

Starling Cycles Mini-Murmur - Componentry

Starling Cycles Mini-Murmur - Ride impressions

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Liam Mercer