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New Shimano Saint for 2008/2009
18th April 2008 - Jim
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I've been sat on my hands with this tasty morsel of news for months now, and finally now the press embargo date has come and I can reveal to you all the latest Shimano gear. For 2008 the hardcore Saint groupset gets a huge makeover, with new colours, designs and a lot of new innovations over the old Saint groupset.
All new Saint. Keep on reading for the full details
Saint is primarily designed for downhillers and those who are hard on their bikes, and mostly those of us who enjoy going uphill on foot or on the back of a trailer.. The new Saint comes with innovations, an awesome new gold and black colour scheme with aggresive graphics and many performance tweaks across the range. Shimano is continuing to step it up and deliver the goods.
Servo Wave now available in Saint range too!
Firstly, lets deal with stopping. The new Saint brakes have been designed from the ground up, with a 4 piston design (two small, two large) the end result is a reported 50% increase in power over the existing brakes. The calipers have also been worked on internally to improve the flow of oil, reducing the number of places for air bubbles to get stuck, and therefore making them easier to bleed and even more maintenance free, an issue which we found with a set of Shimano XT brakes we had on test.
Dual piston design means more power, and hopefully more modulation
They also come with Servo Wave technology to boost brake power and a tool free reach adjust, as well as a redesigned wide lever blade.
Next, shifting. And possibly one of the most exciting innovations for us from this groupset.
Saint gets Shadow technology (detailed here in a previous review) which basically if you haven't come across it before, 'hides' the mech body behind the dropout to prevent stray rocks slamming into your expensive mech. But most importantly, you can now get Shadow technology in a short cage, perfect for downhill bikes everywhere. Incorporated into the shifter is what Shimano call a mode adjuster, you can set either DH mode for close ratio shifting (23t-28t low) or all mountain mode (28t-24t) for a much wider ratio setting.
Beefy links and Shadow makes the new Saint a huge contender for 08
Couple that with huge chunky inner links which boost the strength and stiffness of the mech as well as improving the image of the mech. And still managing to save over 100 grams, sounds almost too good to believe! Shimano have also beefed up the spring tension stiffness, making shifting much more crisp and immediate. It's also available in a medium cage, for those of us with double ring setups. As usual the shifters have been designed with the usual Instant Release and Two Way Release technology we saw on the XT mech. No complaints from us about Shimano shifters if XT is anything to go by.
Slick and simple design
Next up is the redesigned crankset, most notably the honeycomb bashguard not seen before, designed to absorb impact as well as returning to its original shape afterwards. On most cranks you'll find a mark halfway along where the back of your shoes have been rubbing, the big S have worked on this to allow more ankle clearance as well as a steel pedal insert. There are double and single chainring versions available. Single chainring options include 34/36/38/40 and 42T. Double: 36 x 22T. It available in 68-73mm BB shell width (M810) or 83mm BB shell width (M815), weight weenies will be happy to know that the new cranks come in 90g lighter than the departing models.
Redesigned crankset with honeycomb bashguard
Nearly there, keep reading! A front derailleur is not what you'd associate with a downhill bike, but more and more freeriders are speccing their bikes to pedal uphill as well as downhill, the rerailleur is much more compact than the standard front mech to allow it to clear bigger tyres which will catch on some standard front mechs, it also has a much wider tolerance for seat stay angles, which on some bikes will catch, specifically it will fit on 65-71 degree frames. It's available in top swing or down swing for an 83mm BB shell. All in all, one of the only solid options designed for abuse on the market.
A front derailleur designed specifically for hardcore riding
And finally, Saint also comes with a new hub and freehub design. They come in at around 100 grams lighter than the current versions, come in a standard centre lock mount size, meaning they are compatible with any size of Shimano centre lock rotor.
The hubs come with Shimanos trusty cup and cone bearings which are claimed to be more durable under side loads. Over Locknut Dimension (OLD) is 110mm and they are now available in the ever popular 20mm size for a solid fork/hub combination.
New hub now comes in a 20mm size for a solid fork/wheel connection
The bearings in the hubs have been placed further apart to improve stiffness throughout the contact area in the hub as well as Shimano's quick engagement technology for fast uptake on the pedal strokes (10 degree engagement). The freehub will be available in 135mm with either a 10mm or 12mm through axle or 150mm with a 12mm through axle. Seals have been improved by a reported 400% to help it deal with the British weather!!
...and the freehub is now available in 135 and 150 OLD sizes
Overall Saint has been made to look better, lighter and stiffer too. An improvement across the board. Look out for the range in shops August 2008, and keep an eye on here later this year for reviews on the latest Shimano Saint gear. Have a look at the Shimano website for more or the UK distributor Ultimate Pursuits/Madison for sales.
Naturally the parts are priced in line with the previous models:
Crankset - £119.99
Rear mech - £79.99
Rear shifter - £44.99
Front mech - £29.99
Brakes - £119.99 each
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