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New 2013 Shimano Saint Groupo Unboxed and Weighed

Written by Saris Mercanti
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A brand new beautiful Shimano Saint groupo recently arrived at out doorstep for a long term review. Out came the scale and here is the fruit of our labor. Just a few scale shots and some tastefully artsy close ups. Don’t pretend you don’t like it.

The Shimano Saint group won’t be winning any weight competitions but it’s long set the gold standard for strength and durability. So we have exceedingly high expectations for these new components.

We’ve already covered all the new tech extensively in this article, so just whip past the break for all our ParkTools approved weights.

Brakes

Front brake

Claimed rear brake weight: 302g.

Heavy mounting hardware is heavy. Ti all the things?

Shifter

Claimed weight: 123g. They probably didn’t weigh the shifter right out of the box with the shifter cable pre-installed.

Crankset

Claimed weight: 931g according to our press materials. Perhaps they weighed the cranks & BB? The whole package ( cranks & BB) tipped our scale at 918g. Either way, Shimano’s new Saint cranks under promised and over delivered.

Bottom Bracket

Pedals

Claimed weight: 500g. Anyway you look at it – these pedals are porkers. Weight used to be inconsequential but in the modern era most racers have downhill rigs in the low 30s and every bit counts. Good thing we’ve heard nothing but rave reviews about these pedals.

They come with pins pre-installed as well as additional replacement pins and washers. Want to add more pins or increase traction? Just add pins or remove/install washers to dial in your preferred “grippiness” level.  Since we won’t be clipping we like to set the “grippiness” up to eleven.

Chain

Shimano XT 10 speed chain. Take note when installing because it is directional. It’s also specifically designed for the rigors of mountain biking. Special cut outs help reduce twisting and the chain’s ability to shed mud.

Derailleur

New ten speed derailleur with Shadow Plus clutch mechanism. Claimed weight: 280 g

For pricing and even more details check our initial coverage here. We also have some Zee components trickling in for all those ballers on a budget.
Saris Mercanti
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satisFACTORYrider
satisFACTORYrider
12 years ago

any day every day over sram

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Bog
Bog
12 years ago

I have the brakes, shifter and pedals and the quality is amazing on all of the parts (also have a Zee rear derailleur and rear hub). Both groups pummel SRAM into the ground for function, feel and quality. Nice work and thank you Shimano!

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bin judgin'
bin judgin'
12 years ago

saint cranks be shoppin’
saint brakes look great too but mineral oil sucks. good job on their visual designers. make a ballin’ XT dot-5.1 brake that requires no maintenance, and youve got me.

i will stick with sram drivetrain though.

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issacross
issacross
12 years ago

so how can i put a clutch rder on my cross bike? i got all excited about using my 7800 shifters and this rder, but the dynasys screwed with the cable pull. worse yet its not compatable with the 7900. And no i will not switch to sram so i can run an xo w/ clutch. balls.

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Don T Judge
Don T Judge
12 years ago

>saint brakes look great too but mineral oil sucks.

Actually the only reason mineral oil would suck is due to having a lower boiling point, but once you add in the heat sinks on the brake pads, then it’s no longer an issue. So now instead of having a DOT fluid brake that you have to periodically swap fluid on due to it absorbing water, you have a system that will never absorb water and only needs pad changes for its entire functional life.

So while on many bikes you wouldn’t want mineral oil, it’s actually the prudent choice for this design.

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nick
nick
12 years ago

@bin judgin’: ever work with DOT fluid? Mineral oil is my choice any day. Must have never ridden on a shimano drivetrain either, shimano has reached xtr level shift feel with these bad boys.

this group looks absolutely stellar, good work shimano! 😀

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mongo
mongo
12 years ago

My favorite comments are always the ones that speak of undying devotion to a multi-billion dollar corporation and disgust with anything that smells of competition to what they deem “the best”.

That said, Saint looks really well executed.

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bin judgin'
bin judgin'
12 years ago

yes i’ve worked with dot fluid. so has anybody who has used a brake system for any other type of vehicle past the horse drawn carriage. mineral oil is for a kids bike. give me their rotor tech on dot fluid brakes.

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jovi
jovi
12 years ago

@bin judgin: i’ not as keen as you are, but i always try to maintain brake my self. dot oil is a pain to work with, especially on a closed system like avid. one spill and your paint will damaged

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Marc Basiliere
Marc Basiliere
12 years ago

On the DOT vs. Mineral Oil discussion:

Aside from its paint stripping and carcinogenic qualities, the reason that many are turning away from DOT fluid is its inconsistency. A brake company has to (or at least should) plan for worst-case scenarios. Many DOT formulations are hygroscopic- they actively pull moisture from the air. So while virgin DOT fluid may have a higher boiling point than mineral oil, that advantage disappears when moisture is introduced, making it more of a theoretical advantage. Once that’s taken into account, there’s really not much reason beyond inertia to go DOT.

Besides: when was the last time that you saw a correctly specified, maintained, and used brake system–using either fluid type–boil? Resort rentals are pretty much the only bikes whose brakes are regularly dragged from top to bottom.

marc

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bin judgin'
bin judgin'
12 years ago

The carcinogenic part is quite nice to deal with 😮

Who are these “many” that are turning away? As far as I know the motorized vehicle market still uses DOT for all braking systems. Bikes are still mainly DOT fluid. The new rotor tech is super great for being able to get away from the heat problems. Mineral oil will still get sticky in the cold though, what else can be done about that?

I’ve spoken to quite a few dorks who boil their brakes.

The DOT 5.1 vs 4 with the level of hygroscopic potential and wet boiling point is a good point though.

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Matt
Matt
9 years ago

I know these comments are extremely old but I’m sure people still come across them as I just did and they will read this mis-information and spread it further. When is someone going to actually look up the boiling points of DOT fluids and Shimano mineral oil? It’s available, all you have to do is open a book or google it. The fact is, Shimano mineral oil has a higher boiling point than any DOT minimum boiling point. It’s over 100F higher than DOT 3 spec. It’s even higher than DOT 5.1’s 518F spec. Sure, there are some high performance DOT fluids with higher boiling points than the minimum spec but Shimano mineral oil is up there with the best of them.

How is it that the majority of the internet just accepts mineral oil as having a lower boiling point than DOT fluid without question?

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