I just picked up a Saint rear shifter for my bike so I figured I'd post a review about it and let people know how it works since I've heard nothing about them.
The first thing you notice is how small the thing is out of the packaging; it's tiny. The upshift (to get into a harder gear) paddle is really small, as is the other one. The cool thing about the size is it allows you to run your lever on the inside to get it in the right place as opposed to having your shifter on the inside.
At first I wasn't too sure on the shape, it seemed like the thumb paddle stuck out too much. However, after riding it for a weekend I can say it works well although I may trim it sometime as an experiment, after I see if I can buy them via BTI or something.
The action is super fast. Downshifting is "bam, bam, bam" as opposed to "clunk, clunk, clunk" like my old LX shifter. I didn't think it would make a big difference. Even compared to an LX shifter on my other bike it's super crisp.
Bottom line, if you have a Shimano setup (or if you're deciding between Shimano and Sram) and you want to get that little extra performance for gate starts or whatever, this is a good buy. Plus your brakes are in the right spot and it adds that little bit of coolness to your bike. Although it's a little pricey, compared to anything from Sram that's comparable like X0 or X9 it's not bad, or even compared to XT or XTR triggers. I really recommend it. Plus, unlike Sram shifters, it comes w/ a really nice stainless cable instead of those poopy teflon ones.
If you want to order one, BTI carries them so any respectable shop will order through them.
The first thing you notice is how small the thing is out of the packaging; it's tiny. The upshift (to get into a harder gear) paddle is really small, as is the other one. The cool thing about the size is it allows you to run your lever on the inside to get it in the right place as opposed to having your shifter on the inside.
At first I wasn't too sure on the shape, it seemed like the thumb paddle stuck out too much. However, after riding it for a weekend I can say it works well although I may trim it sometime as an experiment, after I see if I can buy them via BTI or something.
The action is super fast. Downshifting is "bam, bam, bam" as opposed to "clunk, clunk, clunk" like my old LX shifter. I didn't think it would make a big difference. Even compared to an LX shifter on my other bike it's super crisp.
Bottom line, if you have a Shimano setup (or if you're deciding between Shimano and Sram) and you want to get that little extra performance for gate starts or whatever, this is a good buy. Plus your brakes are in the right spot and it adds that little bit of coolness to your bike. Although it's a little pricey, compared to anything from Sram that's comparable like X0 or X9 it's not bad, or even compared to XT or XTR triggers. I really recommend it. Plus, unlike Sram shifters, it comes w/ a really nice stainless cable instead of those poopy teflon ones.
If you want to order one, BTI carries them so any respectable shop will order through them.
It has super short paddles that allow you to run it inboard of the brake lever. This can be seen comparing the new saint shifter to an xt shifter i have.
