Falling over in the forest: Starling Murmur

I already posted these photos in the current projects chat, but here goes anyway.

At some point earlier this year I decided that I need a full suspension MTB. I have what seems like a decent range of natural trails starting almost from my doorstep, and given that I'm actually doing cycling workout these days, I figured MTBing could be a nice way to add an "adventures close to home" sorta component to the mix.

I've had a few single-speed MTBs over the years, but never the whole 29er / rear suspension / gears / dropper post shebang. My previous offroading experiences could be largely summarised as "keeling over from standstill", so the only way is up I hope. On the flip side my concern is that this folly doesn't stick, and I end up blowing up a silly amount of euros for nothing *shrug*. I'm also not completely unfazed by the prospect of ending up hurting myself. So this thread may (or might not) end up documenting these secondary outcomes as well.

Looking back, I can't reliably reconstruct my thought process of deciding on the Murmur specifically. Broadly speaking though, I spent loads of time looking at a bunch of different OTP bikes, and failing to purchase one on two separate occasions (in both cases the specific models were sold out while I fretted over my decision) was kind of a "fuck it" tipping point leading to building up my own.

Frame came from Starling with the shock installed. The other stuff I amassed while waiting for the frame. I've built all of my own wheels for the past, dunno, decade or so? but I succumbed to the convenience of getting ready-made wheels. They do feel decent—still, might end up replacing them later, out of a principle if nothing else.