Justin FoxI love the build. For the longest time I’ve dreaded the idea of a “forever bike” because there’s only so much space, and I detest the concept of perfection. IE: if I was to acquire the perfect bike I might lose the excitement of N + 1 and the motivation to build more bikes.
I own some really nice bikes. The stable is currently at 9; My 80’s steel Paino road bike is a keeper as it’s clocked up so many forever memories and out of all my bikes it’s got the greatest stories; everything from finding and convincing the guy (Peter from Star Enamellers) who originally painted the bike in the 80’s for Frank Paino to repaint it for me, through to finally meeting Frank Paino himself and getting his approval on my build.
In terms of emotion and experience, everything else (with exception to my 90’s MTB’s which are wall art that serve to remind me of my childhood) dwindles in comparison to the Paino. The Amflow e-MTB is off it’s tits and has truly helped to get me back out on the trails, but it’s an e-bike and I highly doubt it’ll last. The Specialized S-Works SL8 Tarmac is the most expensive build I’ve ever built (an insane $18k AUD for the base bike before modification), it’s a great bike with more performance than I could ever harness, but I have little to no emotional connection to the bike or the brand.
All that said I think I’ve found a “forever bike” in this Starling Murmur. It was love at first sight. A heart thing more than a mind thing. I have little doubt that for the money spent a 2026 Specialized Stumpjumper would do the job and then some, but I’ve always hurled myself down the path less travelled by.
Before even taking delivery of the frame I reached out to Bristol based Starling Cycles via email and a few days later I surprisingly got a response from the owner and frame designer Joe McEwan (turns out Joe was a skater too!). With my weight and terrain in mind he’s been incredible in helping me decide on the rear shock for the frame, which in turn will dictate the rest of the build.
I place a lot of value on being able to converse with the frame designer. If I ever had a problem with my Specialized S-Works SL8 Tarmac I’d simply file a warranty claim and they’d grab another frame off the shelf and send it out to me whereas Joe’s concept of repairing frames (and further developing them on the fly) and keeping the frames going at all costs in order to not be wasteful ticks a bigger box in my eyes.
Boutique and handmade using Reynolds 853 tubing, brazed in a small workshop in Bristol, UK, it’s the “forever bike” formula I’ve tried to avoid until I got older, but hey I turned 51 this month! I’m here, the time is now.
To me this bike has more character, style and above all it better reflects my personality. It’s wildly future proof too in that Starling has designed the Murmur front triangle (hand made in Bristol) to be the same across 3 different models, and it’s the rear swingarm (hand made by Ora Engineering in Taiwan) that can be swapped out for the Murmur to become a Twist (MX/Mullet setup) or Mega Murmur (Enduro rig).
I’m really stoked with how this build has come together. It was one of my longest builds to date, reminiscent of my R32 GT-R build where there was a lot of trial and error over time. All that’s left is to get the suspension dialled in and hit the trails!
Links:
Starling Cycles: www.starlingcycles.com
CCACHE (Starling Distributor for Australia): ccache.cc
Hand made and it shows. Absolutely obsessed with all the little details. Especially the little birds.
I’ve always dreamed of owning Hope brakes with Goodridge brake lines when I was younger. It was difficult as choices were limited, but I ended up hunting down silver parts for the build. Funny, as back in the day we went as far as blacking out our tan wall tyres and buying black parts to replace silver parts to make our bikes look more understated and modern.
Some of my Park Tools (they’re like the Snap-On tools for bikes) have lasted since mid 2000’s. Good tools are worth it and now I’ve pretty much got every tool I need to build and maintain bikes well.
I build my bikes in my lounge room. The frame on a stand is much like a blank canvas which I just chip away at bit by bit and stare at when I’m not.
I had to have silver wheels and got these custom made by The Brig, a local wheel builder. The Project 321 hubs feature a really interesting design that allows for both bolt in and centrelock rotors.
I had ordered an Ohlins rear shock from Joe at Starling (because… Ohlins!), but at this stage I thought the gold and bright yellow coil spring of the Ohlins would clash with everything else. A Rotorburn forum member pointed me out to a limited edition silver Cane Creek coil shock so I pounced on it. Joe from Starling generously refunded me for the Ohlins which I had ordered a month before. Now that’s how you do business!
I couldn’t deal with the yellow and orange logos on the tyre walls so I attacked them with a Sharpie. Good thing I could keep within the lines!
Icing on the cake. The last piece to arrive was this handmade Starling Clutch stem painted the same colour as the frame, and yes… more starlings!
One thing I’ve yet to learn is bleeding hydraulic brakes. I have a generic kit, and had all intentions to give it a go, but it turns out Hope brakes need a special cup which bolts onto the brake reservoir. My friends (and local Starling distributors) at CCACHE had it, so in the end I had their mechanic Jordan bleed the brakes for me and God damn the brake lever feel is so good. He did an amazing job (I’ll have to learn another time!).
SPECS:
Frame: Starling Murmur V3 Medium (3817g)
Shock: Cane Creek DB Kitsuma G2 (Silver Ltd.) 210×55, 57×350 VALT Spring (766g)
Fork: RockShox Lyrik Ultimate RC2 D2 150mm (2012g)
Mud Guard: RockShox (38g)
Chain Guide: Funn (13g)
Chainstay Protector: Ride Wrap Chainstay Armour (10g)
Thru Axle: (50g)
Hanger: (13g)
Headset: Chris King InSet 7 (143g)
Top Cap: Chris King (17g)
Shifter: Shimano XT SL-M8000 + cable (138g)
Cables: Nissen mesh (121g)
Derailleur: Shimano XTR RD-M9100-SGS + Garbaruk cage + 11T/16T pulleys (247g)
Crankset: Middleburn RS8 165mm + X-type uno boost chainring 30t (597g)
BB: Chris King Threadfit 24 + #4 Fitkit (87g/5g)
Pedals: HT Components ME03 Alloy (265g)
Cassette: Garbaruk, 11-Speed 10-50T, XD (311g)
Chain: SRAM GX 12-Speed (246g)
Brakes: Hope Tech 4 V4 (585g)
Brake Cables: Hope Goodridge stainless steel braided (107g)
Brake Adapters: Hope H, Hope N (32g/25g)
Brake Rotors: TRP RS01E 2.3mm 203mm/180mm + Project 321 bolts (235g/183g/20g)
Handlebar: Protaper A50, 31.8mm/50mm Rise 760mm (298g)
Grips: OneUp Thick Grips (144g)
Stem: Starling Clutch 35mm, 0° rise, 31.8mm clamp, 40mm stack (234g)
Top Cap: Chris King (15g)
Spacers: Starling 2 x 10mm (11g/11g)
Dropper: PNW Loam 175mm 31.6mm silver + OneUp Ti bolts + cable (536g/9g)
Dropper Remote: Hope Dropper Lever + Shifter Mount (40g/10g)
Seatpost Clamp: Burgtec Rhodium 34.9mm (21g)
Saddle: Fabric Scoop Elite (256g)
Wheelset: Wingman Origin, Project 321 G3, Pillar Sandvick T302, valves + tape (1050g/1224gg)
Tyres: MAXXIS Forekaster 29 x 2.4 WT 3C MaxxTerra TR EXO (912g/928g)
Weight: 15.90kg
Links:
Starling Cycles: www.starlingcycles.com
CCACHE (Starling Distributor for Australia): ccache.cc