The new Starling Mini Murmur features a steel, single-pivot frame that doles out 120mm of rear-wheel travel. It has been designed to be more efficient and sprightly than the long-travel Murmur trail bike.
You could refer to it as a downcountry bike, but it’s more versatile than many of those, especially if they’ve been born from a cross-country background.
Instead, this lithe steel-tubed frame feels sprightly and fun when zipping along slithers of singletrack. Yet its geometry (along with other things) ensures that should you want to push it a little harder down something a touch more daring, you can.
And here, unlike some downcountry machines, it won't feel skittish or fragile.
Starling offers the Mini Murmur as a frame or as a complete build – as seen here. I spent the day on the bike just before its launch in order to get a feel for it.
Starling Mini Murmur frame and suspension
The Mini Murmur is based on the V3 Murmur frame, making use of the adjustable shock mount that enables a shorter, lighter 210x50mm shock to be used.
Front triangles are handmade in the Bristol workshop, from slender Reynolds 853 tubing, while the rear end is made by ORA, in Taiwan, from heat-treated chromoly.
There’s no shortage of eye-catching details, including the beautifully made head tube gusset, as well as the neat little brace that straddles the two upright struts of the rear triangle.
Starling says it uses recycled steel to create its frames because it’s easy to repair and refurbish.
The Mini Murmur, along with Starling's other frames, comes with a seven-year warranty that includes a crash-replacement service, access to frame repair, refurbishment and repainting services. Non-original owners don’t get the warranty but get access to everything else.
In a bid to help the Mini Murmur cover ground as efficiently as possible, it's built around 29in wheels at the front and rear.
The single-pivot suspension platform dishes out 120mm of travel and is matched, in the case of the complete build, with a 120mm-travel fork up front.
Cables are neatly routed externally and are channelled down the upper side of the down tube, under the shock mount, before being directed accordingly when they reach the seat tube near the bottom bracket.
The near rear triangles also get SRAM’s Universal Derailleur Hanger, which should help when it comes to finding spares. The back end will also work with a 200mm brake rotor.
Because the Mini Murmur starts in a medium, all frame sizes can house a water bottle cage.
If at any point you want some more travel on tap, a swap of the shock and fork will convert the Mini Murmur into a full-travel Murmur. This bumps the travel up to 135mm at the rear, and slackens the head angle to 65 degrees and seat tube angle to 78 degrees.
Starling Mini Murmur geometry
Starling offers the Mini Murmur in five sizes (M-XXL), with reach figures spanning from 450mm all the way up to 545mm. The medium is aimed at those between 167 and 177cm. Anyone below that height bracket may struggle to find a Mini Murmur that fits them.
Chainstay length is set at 445mm across all sizes, while stack heights grow from 602mm on the medium to 620mm on the XXL frame.
The claimed 79-degree seat tube angle should help to produce a fairly efficient seated position on the climbs, while the relaxed 66.2-degree head angle will hopefully strike a balance between being reactive and stable.
Starling sits the bottom bracket a healthy 46mm below the wheel axles to ensure you’re sitting in, rather than perched on, the bike.
Starling Mini Murmur specifications
If you’re not keen on the frame only, Starling offers a single full-build option.
The parts list is a little more exotic than you’ll see from a lot of other mountain bike brands, which I think is pretty cool.
DT Swiss provides the suspension. In this case, the fork is the F 232 ONE, with 32mm stanchions and 120mm of travel.
There’s a dial on top of the fork crown, which enables you to switch between ‘open’, ‘drive’ and ‘lock’ damping positions, as well as fine-tuning the open mode (although you’ll need a small T10 Torx key to do this).
This is paired to an F 535 ONE shock, which also has three modes.
The Swiss brand also supplies the XMC 1501 wheels, which are wrapped in Michelin Wild XC rubber. These are not the fastest-rolling tyres, but they're good all-rounders nonetheless.
British brand Hope supplies its XCR four-piston brakes, which anchor onto 180mm rotors at the front and rear. Hope also provides the stem, headset and seat clamp, as well as its beautiful carbon crankset, going some way to justifying the lofty asking price.
Shimano’s XT 12-speed drivetrain is a dependable bit of kit, and nice to see on a bike that’ll be covering a lot of trail miles.
A BikeYoke Revive 3 dropper post and Renthal FatBar Lite finish off things nicely.
Starling Mini Murmur initial ride impressions
I was only able to spend one day aboard the Mini Murmur during the launch event, on familiar trails in the Forest of Dean.
Joe McEwan, the founder of Starling, helped with setup. I was able to achieve around 30 per cent sag at the rear and fettled the fork until I was happy with how it felt in terms of sag, compression and rebound.
I left the damper adjuster on both the fork and shock fully open throughout the ride and at no point felt the need to use them.
Starling Mini Murmur climbing performance
Thanks to the very steep seat tube angle, the Mini Murmur sits you in an upright but comfortable position on the bike. It also gets your backside right over the bottom bracket.
Coupled with the relatively long rear end (especially for a medium-size frame), the Mini Murmur feels very stable and composed on the climbs.
There’s no need to shift forward on the saddle, even when the gradient increases, because there’s no front-wheel lift.
When seated and pedalling, the rear end stays very calm, with next to no movement in the rear shock as you spin the cranks. Things remain neutral and feel efficient.
We’re not talking the same level of sprightliness as a downcountry bike with lightweight, semi-slick tyres and a jacked-up carbon cross-country frame. However, I found the Mini Murmur went uphill eagerly enough for my liking.
And let’s be honest, those lighter bikes would struggle to keep up with the Mini Murmur when pointed downhill.
Starling Mini Murmur descending
First and foremost, the Mini Murmur is seriously fun to ride.
It’s reactive, poppy and agile thanks to the support from the suspension and the feel of the frame. However, the geometry ensures that when things get spicy, it’ll more than hold its own.
The DT Swiss suspension duo aren’t as sensitive or plush as some on the market, but they won't use their travel up too readily, meaning you can skip through the bumps without the bike pitching wildly back and forth as you do so.
Although efficient in how they dish out the travel, they’ll still do a decent job of keeping the tyres in contact with the ground and aren’t afraid to get stuck in when the bumps start coming thick and fast.
As my experiences with other Starling bikes have proved, it’s easy to get carried away thanks to the shape and feel of the frame.
The Mini Murmur made me want to push hard on the trails I know so well and really eke out every bit I could from the 120mm of travel.
It helps that the Michelin rubber, although not the fastest-rolling, adds confidence when things get loose, while the Hope stoppers have more than enough power on tap to bring you to a sharp stop.
This is the type of mountain bike that wants to make you look beyond the travel figures. The limitations they can suggest don’t do this bike justice, thanks to just how capable and fun it feels on the trail.
Starling Mini Murmur early verdict
Although my time on the Mini Murmur was brief, I really got a handle on how it behaves on the trails I love riding.
Don’t be fooled by the 120mm of travel on tap, because this bike is far more capable than those numbers might suggest.
Product
| Price | 7650.00 GBP |
Features
| Fork | DT Swiss F 232 ONE, 120mm travel |
| br_stem | Hope TR, 40mm |
| br_frame | Steel, 120mm travel |
| Tyres | Michelin Wild XC |
| br_brakes | Hope XCR four piston |
| br_cranks | Hope Carbon 165mm |
| br_saddle | Fizik Alpaca X5 |
| br_wheels | DT Swiss XMC 1501 |
| br_shifter | Shimano Deore XT |
| br_cassette | Shimano Deore XT |
| br_seatpost | BikeYoke Divine |
| br_gripsTape | Sensus Lite |
| br_handlebar | Renthal Fatbar Lite V2 alloy, 760mm |
| br_rearShock | DT Swiss F 535 ONE |
| br_availableSizes | M, L, X, XL, XXL |
| br_rearDerailleur | Shimano Deore XT |
