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Shimano Saint crankset and rear derailleur review
I hope you’ll excuse me for not being completely on the ball when it comes to updates — I haven’t quite made it back into the normal swing of things although I’m starting to get there. Anyways, Pinkbike has a new review of the Shimano Saint crankset and the Saint rear derrailleur. From the looks of the gear, Shimano’s freeride components took some serious abuse and, according to the reviewer, it held up well and continues to shine.
I agree with the assessment of the cranks (easy to install, easy to maintain, stiff) and, based on my experience with Shimano’s Deore XT cranks, wholeheartedly recommend the X-Type bottom bracket setup. As for the rear derailleur, I’m not the biggest fan of Shimano’s mountain bike rear derailleurs because of the way the mechs consistently smack your bike’s chainstays on rough descents. The Saint derailleur continues this legacy but, by most accounts, the slapping isn’t quite as bad as some of its siblings. Of course, that doesn’t make it acceptable or right, but it’s good to read that Shimano is at least making an effort to address product flaws.