Edited Date/Time
9/29/2026 3:34pm
A solid collection of unofficial Shimano brakes, derailleurs and shifters hanging off of Yeti and Scott bikes from the Whistler World Cup DH. The release has to be soon, right? Have to say, the foil tape covering logos is a nice touch. Seems brands are learning that sharpies can be photoshopped away and if the tape is too thin, embossed artwork can be sleuthed by Vital's nerdiest.
photos by Rick Schubert
any sign of the cranks?
side note, current saint tier launched in 2012. i hope this long development cycle for the imminent launch doesn't mean the next saint grouppo will launch in 2040
I've got a few things that come to mind scrolling these pics, and I'm curious what others think -
from a vid clip of syndicate bike - normal old ones?
So it's a 2 piece caliper that's bolted together with two bolts (to the maven's 4)? Interesting that it has the bridge above the pads, what does that do in this case? Obviously it's supposed to beef it up, I'm just wondering how it does that. I guess the pad retention bolt helps with that?
The most impressive thing to me, just looking at XX DH, is how tucked the derailleur is. Maybe it's just me, but seeing that on the demo at my LBS was impressive. Comparing XX DH to current saint... saint just looks so OLD.
This whole no clutch thing seems to be about making the suspension move more freely, no? However shimano had that clutch on/off switch from the beginning.... did anyone really turn it off and think it was noticeably better? If they wanted to do the dual spring thing, did they still have to get rid of the clutch and switch? Just seems like kind of an own goal.
Wireless has a lot of advantages (ergonomic flexibility, easy to work on and install, etc), and it has some disadvantages (weight, cost). Why not just make Saint wireless and Zee cabled? But this is why shimano has lost like all the market share... too little, too late, over and over. No one actually cares about cues or whatever, people want shiny fancy shit. Sram delivers that, shimano doesn't.
For the current saint brakes, the calipers are beefed up but they actually have the same size pistons as XT and XTR - just a slightly different servowave ramp built into the lever.
If the new saint brakes get released and it turns out that they also have the exact same size pistons as XTR, I'll be very disappointed in Shimano.
We have waited far too long for these saint brakes to end up having 5% more power than XTR.
Those cranks aren't "normal" as they are not available to the public, crank arms and spindle might be the same (hard to say if they are the same lenght as available for the current gen on maybe shorter options will be added?), spiderless design is new.
I’m not convinced wireless shifting on bikes is that much better for the added cost or that Shimano will be left behind if they make this cable. For e-bikes yes, where it can be connected directly, but fortunately dh racing isn’t electric (yet)
For privateers is having a £500 mech on your bike really the difference between the top step or a top 20?
Ready for some new brakes next year but gold levers would put these at the very bottom of the list, just behind jamming my foot between frame and tyre
In 2040, the shifter will get a hinged clamp.
on the topic of wireless shifting: i'd venture a guess that shimano is figuring they'll sell more units by keeping the price down; an XTR Di2 derailleur is $500 and the XX DH AXS is $700. DH specific drivetrains aren't exactly high volume movers from a sales perspective. to me it seems more strategic when considered from that perspective.
>The release has to be soon, right?
I swear there was a solid two year gap between Di2 being seen on bikes and it actually being available
Are they really "prototype" if they're straight out of the factory, but with stickers covering the branding?
A few months ago I was told October release for the new Saint group. I'm sure we've all heard various time frames, but it's looking closer than ever!
The RD says RD-G8000🧐
I had to scroll back up and look at the clamp again, from both sides. I am shocked; my mouth fell open. Stamping the b-gap measurement on the back of the inner plate is helping, no split clamp for the shifter HURTS.
I've said it before but the lack of clutch is fine on cable XT, I prefer it over the clutch, no dropped chains and no more chain slap than clutch.
"No one actually cares about cues or whatever, people want shiny fancy shit."
That's funny, no one cares about any higher level mtb groupset at all when it comes to the mass market.
Cues, 105, Deore and untiered groups sales are what allows Shimano do some cute sidequests like XTR, DuraAce or Saint.
I believe the no clutch problem has been fixed to some extend, first series had really weak "main" spring which caused the chain drop but then they quickly changed it for the stiffer spring and now its better, from what I've heard (dont own one) the chatter is now only noticeable in really the roughest terrain. On the other hand the clutch has been observed to negatively impact the suspension performance and people claim bikes feel better with the clutchless derailleurs. I know the difference was huge with the old ones, with clutch engaged the action of the lever became noticeably hard.
Also what do we think the new shifter/brake mount system will be called, cos there’s definitely gonna be one
It'll be i-spec EV, same as it's been since 2018.
I'm just sad that new Saint means the end of my Zee derailleurs with the "freeride mode" link that can handle a 36T cassette. Bomproof short cage derailleur with gears you can actually use to climb. There's literally no other option to simulate this setup (short cage derailleur that can do 36T) even from the likes of Madrone. It's either DH race gears or long cage wide ratio derailleur.
11-36T 10sp + dropper post on park bike is peak if you don't race.
universal cycles has >100 in stock if you feel the need to stock up.
Lol, yeah zee is not exactly hard to come by anywhere.
Tell that to their stock price, revenue, profitability, and declining margins. 🤣 Shimano is being eaten alive from above and below. Cues and road are like the only bright spots they have left.
The mass market also doesn't care about Cues. Walmart bikes (ozark trail) come with ltwoo and microshift. Specialized and trek offer cues on a select few bikes... where it competes with... ltwoo and microshift in the range. They are maaaaaaybe moving enough cues stuff to offset revenue weaknesses in other segments. In a quest to make half as much money as before? Again, see their financials. It's bad. The decline is real, and very clear. They are showing that there's not enough cues sales in the world to make up for the loss of those juicy, juicy premium segment (XTR etc) dollars.
Deore and 105 is fancy shiny shit; they're even offered with Di2... It's clearly part of the premium segment, developed, and designed to exist with the rest of the premium range like XTR and Dura-Ace. Shared technology, compatibility, etc. It's just less fancy and shiny than what sram has, especially on the mountain side. Again, because they have spent a decade bringing too little too late, over and over.
My point was that their strategy continues to not make sense, including with this Saint launch. This is clearly playing out in the market (and their financials). If you think the premium segment doesn't matter, and is just some silly little side quest because it's not "mass market" then explain SRAM. And then explain why sram is seeing significant revenue growth over that period while shimano is, let's be very generous and say, flat.
I know I'll get flamed for this by shimano fanboys, but if shimano keeps this up they will turn into campagnolo in like 10 years. Oh wait, I almost forgot, they'll still have fishing reels! 🤣
You have to be blind to no see this. Still most of mountainbikers dont really seem to have a good idea how much bigger the road cycling is compared to the MTB. Shimano is still $3billion company making drivetrains, wheels and about 20% fishing department while SRAM is estimated to be $1 billion company making suspension as well as all sort of other things (bike computers, ochain,...). The strategy of SRAM to offer complete builds (including suspension) for MTBs is already paying off and will continue to do so as it also gives them options for funky advanced devices like the flight attendant. And they are pulling ahead on road as well, the Force groupset costs about the same as Ultegra but is lighter and comes with a decent powermeter. You can get a decent powermeter from a dozen chinese brand nowadays now but Shimano still cant make one, its really baffling...
I've been eyeballing the RD-M5130 for this. 10 speed 11-43t compatible with a relatively short cage and cheap as hell if it gets destroyed.
You can put short cage on any 11-12 speed derailleur from Shimano, you just have to look around a bit
Only problem with this vs the Zee derailleur is that the Zee has a solid steel plate behind the parallelogram which makes it a lot more durable (although I've had limit screw bolts get mushroom headed from hitting it and get stuck in there so I always replace those with titanium bolts). Sadly the parallelogram and part above that is the same brittle alloy that Shimano uses on all its derailleurs that breaks super easily. I go through a derailleur a park season and have never had a bent hanger, the derailleur always breaks first.
Well, zee has only that steel part going for it, the rest of the mech is not quite durable enough and not only it can break but they also have tendency to bend from heavy use so they end up twisted (if you look from the above, the jockey wheels are not pointed straight forward but aim to the right. It's still the best bang for the buck, but let's not pretend it couldn't be improved after all those years it's been in production.
I wonder how much of srams growth has been driven by acquisitions over the last few years
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