I think both Swarf and BTR don’t feel there’s much benefit for an MTB company. As I said, it’s dominated by road bikes.

However, I’m hoping for a bit of exposure this time around on my first attempt.

Clueless Goon indeed. Lets hope he comes and makes the same comment to my face!

Mr Agreeable, I hope that smiley is a wink!

No T-Shirts or freebies from me I’m afraid. Just some lovely bikes to see and sit on!

Pricing is sorted, see the website… Some good deals on build kits as well.

I’ve ridden a singlespeed round my local woods for years. Great fun and easy to maintain in the 9 months of mud.

I do still have geared bike for days out and racing.

When I was younger I had a singlespeed DH bike for a few years. Absolutely fantastic and I believe for a mid pack rider like myself, it actually made me faster. Easier to keep in the zone with no gears to worry about.

I’m also going to build another prototype SS 100mm trailbike. See here…[/url]

So yes, I still ride singlespeed and always will…

I have an old 27.2 Gravity Dropper for sale. It’s needs a bit of love, but this is not difficult and they are very reliable.

jjmcewan<<AT>>btinternet<<DOTCOM>>

The hub is a Tune, probably pretty rare so less chance of finding an Shimano freehub.

FGF??

I’ve got some Sector Silver uppers, including the damper you can have. If you’re local to Bristol you can come and pick them up. Otherwise, if you want them you you’ll have to wait until I have some time to sort postage in a couple of weeks.

jjmcewan<AT>btinternet<<DOTCOM>>

Don’t mock it until you tried it…

My Starling frames have received great reviews from Dirt and Wideopen.

With great reviews coming from MBUK and Enduro-Mtb coming soon.

The feel of steel is real and the reviews reinforce this. Aluminium is easy to produce. Carbon can command high prices. Steel full suspension bikes are just quite hard to manufacture on a large scale, which is why you don’t see them. It doesn’t mean they are not a good solution.

http://www.starlingcycles.com are the best.

But also; Cotic, BTR, DMR, Caminade.

Why no steel in this comparison?

For a slight penalty in weight, steel does offer benefits of a lively ride feel and silence. Along with much great damage tolerance than either carbon or steel and a lifetime of easy reparability.

The website is in it’s infancy. I have some time next week to get it up to scratch…

Glad you like my frame!

Please all visit my website http://www.starlingcycles.com and post up all your thought here, or on my Facebook page.

Cheers, Joe.

I don’t think it was…

I saw this bike at Bespoked last year. Built by a nice Japanese chap.

I need help designing the logo/decals for my Starling Cycle brand, I’ll try and pull together a prize for the solution I adopt.

See here: https://www.facebook.com/StarlingCycles

Dave Garland is working closely with me to set up the Storia shock. Not that it needs that much, it’s a beast from the start!

I’ve made two bikes with super long geometry. One longer than the other. Also a number of shorter bikes with the same design.

My take is that the long bikes are great at high speed and in the rough. But, they also corner well as a I stated before. Low speed corners aren’t that much harder.

Where I find they struggle is that the length makes them harder to manual and pick the bike up so easily. This makes it harder for instant line changes, hopping out of ruts etc. This reduction in pop makes them less suited to jumping.

So for racing, where all our speed matters, and quite often just hanging on for dear life to carry speed is important, than the long bike is great.

But if you’re just hanging out in the woods with your mates, finding every little lip to pop off, then a shorter wheelbase is better.

Horses for courses, I suppose…

Starling Cycles website is on its way in the new year. The Facebook page has been good, but agreed, it’s not easy to find information. My priority has been getting the bikes sorted, before the slick marketing.

Yes, there’s a whole variety of different kinds of birds available on this forum. But there’s also a very high proportion of Tits!

Perhaps steer this topic back onto the benefits of long slack geometry…

I haven’t been on this forum for a while, I forgot about all the tits!

I don’t have a catalogue, so nothing to cut and paste from.

All my own words. This is how it rides! I’m an engineer, not a wordsmith. Perhaps you can help me and suggest some alternatives?

Perhaps you should rein in your cynicism and have a look?

Doh! Got my bar widths and reach mixed up…

480mm reach!

For those of you who want to try a modern super long geometry bike, without paying £200 to Mojo, perhaps get in touch and try out the Starling Cycles test bike.

See Facebook/StarlingCycles.

The new test bike has 780mm reach, 65° head angle and 1240mm wheelbase.

From what people have said about the Mojo, I think I’ve achieved the same thing with my bike. Stand on the pedals and get your weight central and it is super stable. I think it really helps with cornering as the bike drifts so predictably, really lets you push it into corners with super confidence. On the rough it’s unbeatable.

2.1″ to get my 27.5″ wheels into my 26″ frame!

My 26″ Storm Controls held up pretty well, so that’s an option, thanks.

I think the OP needs a pat on the back for not stopping convention from him getting what he wants.

I myself ride a lot of singlespeed and have always wanted three gears; up, along and down (and road). I’ve considered the options, but advice (probably from this site) has always put me off for reasons of reliability.

Yes, you can achieve it with a reduced cassette and derailleur, but they are ugly and fragile, yes even modern ones!

Keep us all in the loop as your testing progresses and I’ll have one off you if they look god. I also know a small bicycle friendly Engineering company that would love to help with any kind of larger scale production. Send me a message if you want to talk it through.

Right, I’m confused now.

I did suspect the Paramo was more of a body warmer.

Perhaps the Rab is the way to go, less thick, more waterproof?

Thanks for al the advice. I think the Paramo is the way to go. Mainly cause it has pockets to keep my hands warm as well!

Cheers.

Thanks peeps.

Lots of good recommendations there. But keep ’em coming.

Sun’s out, so might be able to grab myself a bargain!

What about something with T-shirt length arms, do these exist?

Thanks, but that all good if your moving. I need something that works when your stood in a queue for an hour waiting for you race run…

The off-piste that’s been strewn with barricades by friendly walkers!

Bushwacked,

I’ve put another ad up on Pinkbike, see here[/url]

I got them second hand, but brand new, if that makes sense. So no receipts I’m afraid.

I’ve also felt a bit generous today and dropped the price a bit.

Great forks; plush, stiff, well damped.

I got a set for sale at the moment. See here

Purely changing for tarty colour co-ordination reasons. But I’m a part time framebuilder, so these things matter!

Fund my frame building aspiration?

See today’s Dirt website, I’m Joe of Starling Cycles. A bit of funding would greatly help me get my design to a suitable stage for selling. Interest is looking good at the moment.

If you’ve got any skills to help, that would also make you get more out of your money?

I’ve had some 350NCRs since before Christmas. Got no complaints at all:
Stiff,
Strong;
Light;
Good support;
Plush;
Easy to set up;
Dodgy axle QR!

So pretty much perfect other than the axle. I just hope they last as long and need as little servicing as the Marzocchi’s of old.

Any good 6″ bike will be good enough for DH and will do you other coloured trails.

But key, is two pairs of wheels and tyres. Something light for pedalling, something big with dual ply for DH. Sorted.

The bike I ride the most is a single speed. But full sus. It teaches you to carry speed, and allows you to put the power down out of corner with instant pick up.

For many years I had a single speed DH bike. This was even better. DH is all about focus. Taking gears out of equation meant I could concentrate more and feel the flow! Surprisingly, the only negatives were on flat out sections where you could spin out. I did a few races single speed and think it was actually an advantage, for a mid pack duffer like myself anyway.

It may well grind the knees a little, but it gives you strong legs and body to wrench it up a hill.

But most importantly, it gives you an excuse to push on really steep hills!

Blimey, everyone’s a bit shirty today, and with being so close to Christmas I expected a bit more cheer!

I think I make a reasonable point. Do the latest generation Crossmax look much better than older generations ones. I think you’d be hard pushed to justify it. However, I bet in a poll, people would definitely say the newest generation look better. Perhaps it’s not entirely marketing, but people are drawn to new technology.

In my opinion that draw to technology doesn’t count as good aesthetics. This is a thread about what looks good, not what is desirable. All I was trying to point out what that a large number of the choices seem to be what people want, rather than what looks good.

Someone back me up….?

The best looking bikes are simple. The best looking bikes of all are probably fixies due to their having no cables or levers, derailleurs etc. They are good looking and have become fashion items for that reason.

The reason top end full-sus bikes crop up, is that people can’t distinguish between the ‘want’ instilled in them by marketing, and true aesthetic qualities.

But my bike is still the best…