Quantcast

Test of Time: Shimano's Original Saint Brake

Ridemonkey.com

News & Reviews
Jun 26, 2009
2,168
1

Shimano's original Saint offering was amazing at the time, and remains so all these years later. We felt it necessary to give the old boys some props, so here's a piece paying homage to one of the best bike parts ever.
---

By David Peacock

Mountain bike culture is pervaded by a feverish need for newness; we always need the shiniest piece of equipment to boost our egos. We get squirmy when things look old or weathered. Feeling comfortable on our bikes often comes at the expense of numerous pay checks because, after a mere season of use, bars start to look worn, brakes stop stopping, and wheels adopt the shape of our favorite Mexican tortillas. We are all guilty of gazing at the catalogues, lusting after parts as seemingly trivial as grips or as monumental as wheels. There’s nothing wrong with this, we wholeheartedly accept our gear-hound nature as an occupational hazard because it’s a part of being a mountain biker.




Through thick and thin though, there are some parts that stay with us. Moving from bike to bike, sticking like a wet band-aid that has unfortunately refused to leave, these parts are the true gems. They’ve stood the test of time, unbeaten by the falls or the frustrations that come along with mountain biking. One such part has been a set of the original Shimano Saint brakes. Prior to the company’s revamp of the line and consequent marketing push, the Saints had stayed the same for several years. While others changed and tried to catch up, Shimano sat contentedly with what was considered near perfection at the time.




Five years ago, after saying a long awaited goodbye to a pair of Hayes Nines, the Saints became my new last line of defense. We spent a year together mounted astride a beast of a downhill bike, which weighed close to 50 pounds. Then the ragtag pair of us moved ships, onto a new slopestyle frame, which was ridden all too literally to a breaking point. After rendering the front and rear triangles entirely separate, we altered course yet again, this time to a dirt jump bike, where the Saints were out of place and unhappy. They needed a challenge, and manicured lips and landings were not providing it. These “two-piston brakes that could” never wavered over this course, amazingly, and were the source of little to no trouble mechanically.


This spring, after four seasons of use, the Saints were finally in danger of retirement. A new bike was ordered, and a new set of brakes would obviously accompany the build. However, after testing out the shiny, highly touted new stoppers, I felt uncomfortable. No longer were the curves of the levers fitted perfectly to my fingers, and the modulation of the past was replaced by an unnatural “on/off” sensation. Thus, the Saints were resurrected once more. For one more season, we rode together, holding on for dear life while rattling through rocks and bouncing off stumps, smiling the whole way. In the spring, I will try again to replace these brakes, but I don’t foresee a love affair of this magnitude ever occurring again.


Next time you gaze despairingly at your ride, yearning for Sam Hill’s frame or Gee Atherton’s bars, take a minute to reminisce. Think about where you’ve been with each component, the climbs and the descents, the races and the rides. Appreciate your parts for what they are and where they’ve taken you, and look forward to the future because the ride is only getting better.

 

Attachments

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,562
24,182
media blackout
I've got the same brakes! but with xt levers instead of saint. absolutely love 'em. I bleed 'em once a year just for good measure.
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
I've got the same brakes! but with xt levers instead of saint. absolutely love 'em. I bleed 'em once a year just for good measure.
So they're a different color? IIRC that generation of Saint brake is the XT brake in dark gray.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,562
24,182
media blackout
So they're a different color? IIRC that generation of Saint brake is the XT brake in dark gray.
I used to have a second set of the brakes but with the saint levers. The modulation felt a little different - the bite point for the xt's felt like it kicked in a little earlier, and I think the XT levers were a few grams lighter :-)rofl:).
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,882
447
I was thinking of changing out my setup with "xt" levers and saint calipers, but someone on here convinced me to tune them up and continue running them. I'm glad I did, because I think they're still on par with other brakes I've ridden (like my elixrs).
Super awesome brakes. I like how simple they are and how easy it is to change pads.