Press Release: StarlingStarling Cycles challenges you to flip your understanding of mountain bike design with the all-new Starling Tellum.
The Tellum is a ground-breaking, industry-shaking full suspension mountain bike... with a difference. It takes the scalpel-precision of a fast and manoeuvrable 27.5” wheel and places it up front. Then, adds the blunt force of a tough, hard hitting 29” wheel on the rear. The bike is made with no geometry compromises and built around Starling’s fast, compliant and simple steel single pivot frames.
The Tellum was born out of Starling founder Joe McEwan’s constant hunt for answers to the question of how we can go faster and have more fun on our mountain bikes. Having built the Starling Twist, a traditional Mullet bike, Joe questioned whether his understanding was correct.
“I think I was misled in the way I applied the science” says McEwan. “I started from a clean piece of paper again and thought ‘how do we properly do this?’”
“I have talked a lot about gyroscopic stability, the forces that keep a wheel in-plane, and how this is the only significant difference between 29” and smaller wheels. A bigger wheel is more likely to stay in-plane and not get deflected off line, it is also more stable when leant over in a corner. It is these factors that people translate as “better at carrying speed”. But conversely, they also make the wheel harder to be manoeuvred in and out of line choices.”
“With the Twist I took the industry standard mullet solution and applied the wheel stability science, concluding it was better to have a big front wheel for tracking, and a small rear wheel for manoeuvrability. Essentially applying science to a pre-existing solution.”
“With the Tellum, I took a different approach, if we start with the science, what solution do we end up with? What we want is a manoeuvrable front wheel, allowing it to be moved in and out of line choices, picked-up and put where we want - after all the front wheel is where steering occurs! The rear wheel then just follows on. If the rear wheel is stable it just trucks on and keeps the speed, there is no need for a manoeuvrable rear wheel.”
“The solution, the Tellum, just works. The science is right, the bike is right!”
“I hope that my approach inspires the bike industry to flip their established notions of bike design and look at how they can do things differently. Who knows, maybe we’ll see a World Champion on this sort of bike soon?”
The Tellum is available now for pre-order through Starling Cycles with a limited run of frames being built to order. Pricing and further information is available on request.
More details are available at
https://www.starlingcycles.com
This is going to become permanently engrained in my vernacular.
New Starling shirt??? I'd buy that.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=3coPsE0U7oU
"No worries bro, new endcaps are in the mail. Should be there in a few days!"
Days? I don't have days. I have a new bike and I need to ride it now.
Steal front wheel off wife's bike. It's 27.5. Also wife is upset. Whatever on both, I got a new bike and I gotta ride.
Go ride. Rides pretty okay. Mostly notice the front end being too low over any wheel size crap.
Go on a few more rides. Get used to it. Forget I'm being a total goon. Go to group ride. Get heckled mercilessly. Have a crash. Everyone blames the true mullet curse.
Endcaps show up. Use correct front wheel. Rides much better. Almost like it was designed for a big wheel on the front.
I was definately faster with the smaller wheel on the front. With both 29er my wife joins me on rides and my Strava times are way down.
I see this as a reverse mullet bike. Party (27.5) in the front and business (29) in the back.
The whole thing of being "faster on x setup" has no meaning if you are riding for 1 day. You need to ride a configuration for some time to get used to it before making a determination which is faster.
Maybe ist an disguised E Bike?
See pictures on my profile for those interested.
Never forget, 2015 Rampage. Paul Bas was on track for a 1st place run right as he hucked the *largest* natural step down jump ever attempted on two wheels—20ft out, 45ft+ down—unfortunately the impact was too immense on his body and air shock equipped 26” Scott gambler that his feet blew out and our hero Paul Bas tried everything to weather that rodeo runout (a near vertical landing)..unfortunately he got hurled off his bike @~35+mph directly off an 8ft high dirt shelf to flat ground. Paul literally barrel rolled through the air and smacked the floor flat on his back. He didn’t even hit his head, didn’t even injure any other part of his body—all spine.
He got heli-lifted out and underwent an emergency life saving 11hour surgery to fuse what was left of his t12 vertebrate.
After a truly heroic, no nonsense determination to walk again I can proudly say Paul Bas still rides E-bike mountain bikes to this very day.
I served him fresh living green juice drinks @Craig hospital in Denver, Colorado immediately after his injury. Guy is a real genuine biker..no glitz no glam. He had zero sponsors on his jersey when he dropped into what would have easily been a podium finish that Rampage. He tested, in every dimension, what the human body is capable of. Wow..I live for this.
We love you Paul Basagoitia. Real hero, over and over and over again
#anyoneofus [watch his documentary on HBO]