Singletracks Mountain Bike News

Joe McEwan is a career aerospace engineer and carbon composites expert who founded Starling Cycles in 2014. The brand’s bikes are developed, engineered and handmade for the demands of UK trails, and the bikes have been well received among both the media and athletes. In this episode we ask: What first piqued your interest in building steel bikes? Have you tried building bikes with other materials? Is it true that that steel absorbs road and trail vibration better than other materials, and if so, can the average rider feel a difference? Do fat tires and suspension have more of an affect on ride feel than frame material? How do you go about making a steel tube stiffer in one direction than the other? Are there any design considerations that are unique to steel full-suspension frames? Why are most steel frames single-pivot? Why do some bikes like the Murmur Trail need a brace between the top tube and seat tube? Some Starling products are made in the UK, while others are welded in Taiwan. How do you