Saint shifter – best ever?

Finally fitted one tonight and Jesus…this thing is ace. Crisp and precise, along with an easier shift movement which kind of compensates for the stiffness of the clutch. Never had a shifter that could upshift two at a time either. Well impressed.

But is it the best ever…?

Yes

Yes

/endofthread

Never had a shifter that could upshift two at a time either. Well impressed.

Really? I can shift up to 6 in either direction very fast with exact crisp shifting on the singles too.

FTW

Yeah, absolutely. Shimano quality and blatantly ripped off SRAM feel and cable ratio, best of both worlds

Yes.

The brakes are the best there ever will be.

grip shift = very good. Riding the Saints are good for = gripshift not so good

XO1/XX1 is better.

Riding the Saints are good for = gripshift not so good

I’ll give you DH as saint territory but thats about it. Everything else grip shift pisses all over.

Dual control is still the best
#FlappyPaddlesFTW

I’ll give you DH as saint territory but thats about it. Everything else grip shift pisses all over.

That would explain why it dominates the shifter market then

That would explain why it dominates the shifter market then

😀

That would explain why it dominates the shifter market then

Mostly due to fear and snobbishness from the trigger brigade. Once you leave your preconceptions at the door it’s a new world. I was skeptical but an injury send me down that route and I’ve not looked back since.

Do you have to rotate your grip shift the other way to change gear in Australia, like when the toilet is flushed? 🙂

I’ve got a new saint shifter waiting to go on. Good to hearts one of the best around.

I thought grip sh1t was supposed to be cool about 15 years ago, and personally I still thought it was sh1t.

I thought grip sh1t was supposed to be cool about 15 years ago, and personally I still thought it was sh1t.

You have obviously tried it then 😉 it may not be cool but you get more control, faster shifting, bail out shifting across the cassette, don’t need to wiggle your thumbs, cleaner cockpit layout, less exposed bits to damage in a crash etc. now I have the hang of it I’m shifting with tiny movements while keeping full contact with the main grip and can shift under braking and control much better than with triggers. But each to their own. If I hadn’t of broken my thumb I’d never have tried them and if I had never tried them i’d probably be mocking them too……

any particular Saint model?

my favourite is the 9spd XTR (M970) but the 10spd XTR versions aren’t as nice. Maybe the Saint could step in?

Hmm, I dunno, I can cover the entire width of the cassette in one go, using Dura-Ace bar-end shifters on friction. All you need for flat bars is a bar-con / thumbie of some sort and you are set.

😛

That said, I do need to replace a tired XT pod on my playbike, so Saint might be the way to go there.

Dunno i have both the new saint and xtr and the xtr is a much nicer shifter imo. The saint feels a bit stiff whereas the xtr is like silk!

mikewsmith – Member

I’ll give you DH as saint territory but thats about it. Everything else grip shift pisses all over.

I had X0 gripshift for a little while. It was quite a lot worse than my low expectations suggested it would be.

tomcanbefound – Member

Dunno i have both the new saint and xtr and the xtr is a much nicer shifter imo. The saint feels a bit stiff whereas the xtr is like silk!

Yeah, that’s where taste comes in, I think they’re equally high quality but to me XTR is horrible- feels like the cable’s broken. I know that’s the shimano tradition but I really don’t get it.

Another saint shifter fan… Probably from Northwinds recommendation.
Saint shifter,zee mech, xt brakes… Best setup I’ve had yet.

I have a Saint shifter and XT brakes. Can I ispec them together? Saint shifter is precise and easy to use. Dumping more than one gear at a a time is useful, too.

Saint gears, BB and pedals, XT Brakes, chain and cassette,SLX crankset. A mix and match I can’t fault….. But there’s plenty I’ve not tried!

Mostly due to fear and snobbishness from the trigger brigade

or to bitter memories of underwhelming performance and uniformly lousy shifting. I had some many years ago (came as OE on a ’98 Y22) and they were total crap, so I have no inclination to try them again.

I was a big fan of shimano introducing the double movement where the finger trigger could also be pushed away with the thumb. Terrific ergonomics.

You have obviously tried it then it may not be cool but you get more control, faster shifting, bail out shifting across the cassette, don’t need to wiggle your thumbs, cleaner cockpit layout, less exposed bits to damage in a crash etc. now I have the hang of it I’m shifting with tiny movements while keeping full contact with the main grip and can shift under braking and control much better than with triggers. But each to their own. If I hadn’t of broken my thumb I’d never have tried them and if I had never tried them i’d probably be mocking them too……

Yes I’ve had grip shift on two bikes and could never get on with it.
Personally feel you should be gripping the bar and keeping your palm in the same position especially when the going gets tough.

The last one I had was some funky half grip length thing that had a really strong spring in. Must dig it out and see what it is.

Since we have ascertained that the saint is the best paddle shifter…you can pick one up at Evans for £34.99 if you sign up to their newsletter and get £5 off.