2021 - Full Suspension Bike Thread

Thaad, everyone should ride an evil at some point. Very distinctive ride. Worth throwing a leg over if the opportunity presents itself.

Craw, you are right. Perceptions change all too fast. I choose to ignore those who say the geo is outdated. Instead I just redefine the bike. I've been thinking about a fugitive LT for over a year. My evil has a similar ETT with a slightly shorter reach due to the slacker STA. My HTA is slightly slacker, which I prefer. At the end of the day, this serves the same purpose for me that a fugitive would and I suspect is more fun on the downs. The bigger front wheel is the only part of a 29er I really like, I'm just as happy on a mullet most of the time. Looking forward to some long days in the saddle on this bike.

Decided to try a full-sus again this year. Accumulated some parts during CoVid downtime and built up this Starling Murmur when I finally got the frame from the UK. Been out for a few rides and I'm very impressed so far. Pedals and climbs much better than I expected, smooth and quiet on the downhills. Think this one will be around for a while :)

😲

That is absolutely stunning. Thanks for posting it

I LOVE the look of that bike (and the handful of others like it) and appreciate a steel frame but after years of being hammered with the “significant” differences between suspension designs over the years I’m curious if a simple single pivot design like that, which most of the steel frame guys use, has any significant compromises vs all the more complicated designs out there.

Love to hear from the folks who can detect these nuisances, because although I can kinda ride a bike good I’m VERY bad at detecting and understanding what my suspension is doing.

Posted by: tashi

I LOVE the look of that bike (and the handful of others like it) and appreciate a steel frame but after years of being hammered with the “significant” differences between suspension designs I’m curious if a simple single pivot design like that, which most of the steel frame guys use, has any significant compromises vs all the more complicated designs out there. 

Love to hear from the folks who can detect these nuisances, because although I can kinda ride a bike good in VERY bad at detecting what my suspension is doing.

While I havent ridden a Murmur, I have spent time on other single pivots. The two most common characteristics are pedal feedback and what people call 'brake jack' (rear suspension stiffening on brake application).  You can get used to either, but I definitely dont miss these quirks. Single pivots are usually also quite linear which is why having a properly tuned coil shock would likely help out by increasing progressivity at the end of the stroke.

Posted by: michel77

Decided to try a full-sus again this year. Accumulated some parts during CoVid downtime and built up this Starling Murmur when I finally got the frame from the UK. Been out for a few rides and I'm very impressed so far. Pedals and climbs much better than I expected, smooth and quiet on the downhills. Think this one will be around for a while :)

Wow. Great looking ride. A steel FS rig is one of the things I'd like to try sometime in my MTB career given how much I love to ride steel rigid/hardtail bikes. Enjoy the new bike!

Posted by: tashi

I LOVE the look of that bike (and the handful of others like it) and appreciate a steel frame but after years of being hammered with the “significant” differences between suspension designs I’m curious if a simple single pivot design like that, which most of the steel frame guys use, has any significant compromises vs all the more complicated designs out there.

Love to hear from the folks who can detect these nuisances, because although I can kinda ride a bike good in VERY bad at detecting what my suspension is doing.

I'm not sure I'm "good" enough to notice the differences to be honest. For reference, my previous rides were a Smuggler and a Ripmo and I feel like this bike doesn't give up much to either of those for both climbing and descending. I was worried about pedal feedback and brake jack but honestly it hasn't been an issue for me. I do prefer the coil shock with the progressive coil versus the air shock I ran for a few rides prior to the coil.

Not sure if that helps, I'm still a hardtail guy at heart so any squish in the back is an improvement :)

And thanks all for the compliments, this was very much a buy/sell/trade build but I had a specific look in mind and am stoked with how it came out!

What's it weigh?

That Starling is gorgeous

Posted by: Vikb

Posted by: michel77

Decided to try a full-sus again this year. Accumulated some parts during CoVid downtime and built up this Starling Murmur when I finally got the frame from the UK. Been out for a few rides and I'm very impressed so far. Pedals and climbs much better than I expected, smooth and quiet on the downhills. Think this one will be around for a while :)

Wow. Great looking ride. A steel FS rig is one of the things I'd like to try sometime in my MTB career given how much I love to ride steel rigid/hardtail bikes. Enjoy the new bike!

Thanks Vik! Like you, I’m typically more drawn to steel hardtails which is why I wanted to try the Murmur. I didn’t “click” really with my previous full-suspension bikes and this is the first one where I feel like it’s a worthwhile addition to the collection. I’m a 2 bike max guy so Chromag Surface and starling murmur for now fulfills all my riding needs.

Posted by: tungsten

What's it weigh?

Don’t know. It’s lighter than you’d expect though and it’s a pretty burly build. Gets up the hill pretty good so that’s usually my metric of choice ;)

Agree with above, that bike is gorgeous 😍.  And just how did you get the mud to look so artistic and classy. The mud on mine just looks like a dirty bike but somehow you got it just right. I feel like you applied it with a paint brush or something to get it so it looks like an offroad bike without actually looking dirty. 

Great looking build too. We'll done!

Yup I would love one again. I had a SWorks FSR dually back in the mid/late 90,s. That gearbox bike the fella at REEB Bike built. Now that has me wanting a steel bike more than ever.

Last year I picked up a Process 134 CR DL as a first foray into a modernly long short travel 29er (505 reach in my XL). I sold it around 20 rides in. It was too flexy and I found it lacked confidence when I needed it most. I sold it and moved the parts over to a Chromag, and amazingly, the hardtail was much more confidence inspiring than the exact same build on the 134. I also found the larger 134 very hard to manual, bunny hop or get on the rear wheel.  It was also really challenging  to maneuver in tight rapid turns. This year I have turned my old 27.5 150mm Evil into a 150/150 mullet. It seems that this is what I was looking for. It feels efficient pedaling. It is confidence inspiring when things get rowdy. It is nimble. Probably not as stable at high speed but stable enough. Most importantly, it is tremendous fun to ride. If anyone has a three or four season old 27.5 enduro bike, I highly recommend doing the mullet!