I have some saint brakes, and there is quite a bit of lever pull, before they even start to move the pads. This means the levers are much further away from the bars than I would like.

Is this normal or is there something wrong here?

Mine have a bit too much lever travel without a few bleed tricks; use a narrower bleed block (or just bleed with pads and rotor in place), also unscrew the free stroke screw a couple of turns before bleeding then screw it back in after.

What model? A few were reknowned for being crap

m820, the brakes are great powerwise, its is just the amount of lever throw that is annoying me.

Yeah they do that, I like it but as said above bleed with pads and rotor to get rid of the play. Just be careful

also unscrew the free stroke screw a couple of turns before bleeding then screw it back in after.

– screw it back in after you’ve replaced bleed port screw or before ?

I mini-bleed mine with pads in using a “dummy rotor” which is slightly thinner than a rotor and gives me a quicker bite point.

what about taking the brake off so that the rotor isnt in the caliper, squeeze gently, the piston should move in a little, and then put it back on and try ? worked for me 🙂

http://ridemonkey.bikemag.com/threads/saint-820-brakes-inconsistent-bite-point-any-fixes-or-solutions-yet.256756/

Have a peruse

bleeding won’t sort the lever pull, take wheel out and pull lever. This will move the pads in and reduce the space between pad and disc. you can then do a mini bleed by putting the syringe on the lever and flick it. This will add fluid to the lever but you won’t be able to push the pads back. This is what I’ve done with every set of shimano brakes I’ve bled.

I got the 820 Saints. bought secondhand but new of a bike but needed to shorten the hoses.
I followed the dealer manual on Shimano Techdocs to bleeding them and they felt great after my second ride in the woods(bedding them in).
this guy roughly shows the way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1WT5EkJ9Qs
I got minimal lever throw even after riding the Beskidy race.

my mate got Zee calipers+SLX levers and his are quite fast to bleed, not sure if the combination does something though.