Starling Cycles have made a Carbon eMTB frame. But just the one and they promise not to make any more...
Before you dive into the comments to say how ugly this bike is, read on. It’s more function over form, designed during a research project. It is quite ugly, though.
Press Release:
This ‘Starling’ eMTB frame is a really special, one-off research project that we’re working on with the National Composites Centre.
Long story short, the NCC wanted to invest in the development of new carbon technology, specifically braided thermoplastic tubes with novel design lugs. Versus ‘traditional’ carbon fibre, this approach is more resistant to damage, is easier to repair, can be repurposed in a much easier way and takes less energy to produce. The benefits of all of that should be obvious.
The project was super interesting and helped the NCC develop the technology significantly, but, isn’t complete. There’s still work to be done before we can build a rideable prototype or this approach to carbon can be made more widely available.
You can read all about the project (and why we won’t be making a carbon bike any time soon) over on Starling’s latest Tech Journal.
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