Looking at the Zee and Saint rear mech and shifter combinations.

What’s the difference, and how does this translate to reality? Is there a noticeable difference between them?

I know Saint will leave a bigger dent on the bank balance, and that is can be switched between wide and close ratio cassettes, but is there any other difference?

Zee weighs a little less, but isn’t quite as tough. That said, I’ve done some pretty horrible things to my Zee without causing any permanent damage.

I presume both would be quite a lot tougher than XT?

Just trying to pick the best mech/shifter for a new build, all-mountain hard tail running 1*10. Never did any damage to the XT mech on the old bike.

Zee is pretty basic, it’s a short cage Deore/SLX, I don’t really see anything to suggest it’s tougher than either – Saint is beefed up a lot.

That said, if your mech takes a bad hit, then there’s a good chance it’s a write off, so maybe the cheaper option makes more sense.

My Zee fell apart first day, think that was early quality issues though, haven’t heard of many of them failing since they first came out..

Hmm, I’ll probably stick with Zee for now then, but once I can see what left in the budget (probably nothing) at the end I’ll bump them up to Saint if I can.

To be honest, if I have the choice between Saint or a dropper I know which I’d rather take.

Saint wins for the shifter IMHO. Almost XTR like performance, cost is roughly like XT.

danielgroves – Member

To be honest, if I have the choice between Saint or a dropper I know which I’d rather take.

I’m with you there. Equally, if budget is a factor, I’d spend on the Saint shifter ahead of the Saint mech.

And the German sites are your friend for Shimano drivetrain.

Saint shifter is the best Shimano have ever made IMO- all the quality of XTR, all the clunk of X9.

Zee mech is SLX with just a dab of saint parts in it, but it lacks the extra bracing etc of the saint. But then again, SLX mechs aren’t delicate.

I have a saint shifter and zee mech on my hardtail, mech is a little bent (but not enough to replace just yet), shifter has been ace. Have zee cranks too and apart from looking cheap now that I’ve taking the finish off with heels due to my tardy pedalling style they have been great. All of the above have had a lifetimes abuse already and I’d recommend it all. Combo of German sites and tweeks for my shimano stuff.

Has anyone had issues with the clutch on their zee? Got one last week, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt….

Yes mine stopped working, rode it for months without the clutch, finally got round to googling and realised you can open it up and adjust the tension, been fine since I did that. I had incorrectly presumed that it was just the xtr that was adjustable.

Hmm, given I’m planning on running it with (initially at least, to see who it goers) just a thick thin ring with no guide I would be better off join saint just for the reliability.

got the same setup,

thick thin ring, zee mech and saint shifter- works great

My zee mech is absolutely fantastic with the narrow ride, albeit after 4 rides.

Cant really see the justification in saint on a part that can be wriiten off in one foul move when the zee works so well.

scandal42 – Member

Cant really see the justification in saint on a part that can be wriiten off in one foul move

Obviously not a scientific comparison but my Saint’s taken a proper kicking, as I am a bit clumsy and it’s on a bike with a very solid mech hanger rather than a totally sacrificial one- I really struggled to pay that much for a mech but I’m pretty happy saying I’d have wrecked a Zee by now (having mangled an SLX with far less effort, and killed an X9 in 2 or 3 rides on teh same bike)

It won’t definitely outlive a Zee bt the factor of 2 or 3 it needs to to pay for itself, but it’s definitely possible, possibly likely. (not to mention that busting a mech is annoying, and if you race possibly very annoying- factor in the cost of blown uplifts or race runs)