Is there a known issue with play in Saint shadow rear mechs?

If so… any details or fixes?

yes, buy a 105

Will that work with an 11-34 Cassette?

er.. sorry I dunno for sure.. have had 105/ultegra mechs work on 11-32 cassettes but I also know it won't work on every frame, never used a 34T sprocket so I couldn't say.

not a fan of Shadow (esp saint/XT) tho. where has the play developed in your saint?

It's not my Saint so I'm not sure. I was thinking of going that way to reduce the slap I am getting with a Shadow XT… but the play issue some friends are having with Saint is off putting.

Hence posing on here for more information.

I'm hoping to get my hands on one of my friends rather "play-full" Saint mechs so I can see what the issues are for myself.

not much help perhaps but i use my saint with a 11-32 cassette

2 Saint rear mechs here (DH bike + XC bike) – both less than 10 months old – both not had a huge amount of use – both seem to have developed a reasonable amount of play in the hanger/top pivot – both seem to change perfectly ok. Play does seem more than I would expect or have experienced with any other mechs I have owned.

You'll probably struggle to get a 105 to work properly with a 11-34.

All shadow mechs are pants in my opinion, they all seem to develop play. Saint not worth the money (they do look nice though ;-))

Ah… so it's the top pivot which has the play… and my XT shadow is also showing a bit of play there after about six months use.

Sounds like it's more of an issue with all the shadow rear mechs than simply a Saint related issue? Perhaps it's worse in Saint because of the stronger return spring which is the reason I was looking at a Saint – oh great… remove one problem and add another one :o(

Less than impressed with mine too – lots of slop in the top pivot and the cage pivot – shifting was complete guesswork. I've dismantled mine and shimmed a lot of the pivots out with bits of coke can and it works much better now.

Not good for a £90 mech…

Good info, thanks all… perhaps Saint is not the answer :o(

I couldn't get my saint to index on my Patriot. I stuck it on my Albert and seems ok. The XT shadow on the Patriot seems fine.

The saint appears a lot cheaper made than the XT, yet is more expensive to buy.

I wish they made a short cage XT shadow.

the answer is sram gents.. so my mates tell me (xt running fine for over 8 months on knarbike)

yip – found quite a lot of play on mine but still indexes well. Think I may experiment with shimming. Also had problems initally with the big torx screw at the top loosening off. A mate had this happen repeatedly in France – most annoying. I also break gear cables really quickly but not sure if this is due to mech or cable routing…