Starling Releases the Effigear Equipped Spur
The Starling Spur first came to our attention at the Bespoke show in 2019. Named after the talon on the back of a starling's leg, we were told that bike was going to be a one-off designed for a sizable customer and had some hefty geometry numbers to match including a reach of 520mm and 450mm stays. Well, after a few years of prototyping, Starling is now making a limited production run of the bike for customers as part of its 'Rare' collection.
The brutish blueprint of that bike remains and Starling says this is for "big-terrain enduro racing, double-black bike park laps and hassle-free seasons in the mountains." The biggest change here is that this is Starling's first bike to ditch the derailleur and swap it for a gearbox instead. While most brands seem to use Pinion for their internal shifting, Starling instead went for Effigear. The French box provides a 440% range across its nine gears and the big advantage it has over the Pinion is that it comes with a trigger shifter as standard so there's no messing about with a twist shifter.
Details:
Frame material: Steel, Reynolds 853
Suspension Design: Single pivot
Travel: 170mm
Wheelsize: 29" front and rear, 2.6" clearance
Drivetrain: Effigear 9 speed, 440% range, trigger shifter
Head tube angle: 64°
Seat tube angle: 77°
Price: From £3,330 GBP
More info: starlingcycles.com
Frame material: Steel, Reynolds 853
Suspension Design: Single pivot
Travel: 170mm
Wheelsize: 29" front and rear, 2.6" clearance
Drivetrain: Effigear 9 speed, 440% range, trigger shifter
Head tube angle: 64°
Seat tube angle: 77°
Price: From £3,330 GBP
More info: starlingcycles.com
The gearbox also moves the weight off the rear wheel and into the heart of the bike and means there are fewer chain forces acting on the suspension. All this adds up to Starling describing the 170mm travel Spur as the best descending bike it has ever produced. Despite all these advantages, Starling is open about the associated drag of a gearbox, hence it has only fitted it to one of its most capable bikes and is expecting most of the customers for this bike to spend a lot of their time on uplifts - XC whippets need not apply.
The prototype we saw back in 2019 (left) vs the production model (right).
A lot of thought has gone into the mounting of the Effigear box and Starling worked with the French brand to build the frame around it for the best performance. Starling has also designed a dropout system that allows the rear wheel to be removed without adjusting tension.
The frame offers some adjustability and room for a water bottle in size medium and above.
The suspension remains a single pivot, but Starling has taken what it learned from the Sturn downhill bike and Staer enduro bike and applied it to its first production high(ish) pivot bike. Starling claims this, "reduces any of the forces that affect suspension performance on the trail and creates an incredibly planted bike that offers mountains of grip in all conditions, including under braking".
The Spur is available to order now from Starling Cycles and is built by hand in Bristol, UK using Reynolds 853 steel heat-treated tubing. There is a 16 week lead time on all orders and frames are available with or without shock and with a variety of components with prices starting at £3,300 on a first-come-first-served basis.
More info, here.
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On a similar note, why do derailleurs have built in obsolescence?
bigger tubes would be stronger, stiffer and probably cheaper. stiffness is good, it's the suspension's job to eat the terrain up. the bitching about fox 40's being too stiff would evaporate if the bushings were done right and low friction
What I do fail to understand is why you're so bothered about what other people choose to ride when it doesn't affect you.
I am actually looking out for people which is what you don't get.
The industry does some great things and ideas over the years. Full suspension, disc brakes, 1x drive trains, dropper posts etc.
Then there is the fads and brainwashing that the industry tells people are the next best thing, lie to you about, tell you need or want to charge you more for over the years. Eg, Unified rear triangle, flex stems, carbon fibre, fat bikes, plus size bikes, then the worse one of all Mullets!!
The industry does not have to think much when it comes to Mullets. They need no real development. They just need racers and influential people to swear blind they are amazing and then everyone jumps on the band wagon and think that's what they need and they just don't.
Then you have gearboxes. This is tech that should of been rifined decades ago and future proofed! Not constantly trying to rifine the antique system we currently use. However gearboxes are hard aren't they? They cost money to develople and convincing people to buy them is even harder. So much easier and cheaper to blag Mullet Bikes isnt it!!??
So to answer your question I give a sh*t and care for Mountain bikers. With how much bikes cost...which are a fortune for what they are, we deserve the very best. Not fads like odd size wheels!!
That about cover it?
Out of interest, do you have any links or experience inside of the actual ‘industry’? - Or are your tin foil hat ramblings based on conclusions made from your PB commenting experience?
Also. I will comment what the hell I like on here. Whether people like it or not.
Goodbye
You are just a fad Matty P.
Anyway. For your information I have had all bikes. Currently I ride a Cube 2020 Reaction TM Hardtail (I love a hardtail) which I have upgraded a lot to make it an even more of a hard charger. I've had 26, 27.5 and 29. Those have been in full sus, hardtail, 4x bikes. I've raced DH, Dual slalom, XC and 4x over the years
But apparently I have no idea!!
Maybe have a chat with some people who own companies / work deep in the industry and you may find out there isn’t some kind of mafia setup to defraud the customer by inventing the next ‘fad’, tin foil hat stuff.
5 mins in whistler will tell you that the bike companies have convinced the majority so let them enjoy their big wheels, electric gears etc as they trundle down the hill.
I still see plenty of smiles in the line up and that’s all that counts.
Also, low profile water bottle mounts please?
I'm thinking for lower price and pedaling performance rather than just weight.
Would be interesting to read one of your blogs on the trade offs involved.