Saint or Zee for beginner
Maddog1979
Posts: 185
Hi guys,
After losing my job ... and being unemployed for 8 months i'm now back working and I'm still building my Orange 224 for my first try at downhilling. I need to get a rear mech and shifter . I'm wondering if there is any need shelling out for the 820/810 saint stuff as i'm only just starting out or will the zee stuff be ok?
After losing my job ... and being unemployed for 8 months i'm now back working and I'm still building my Orange 224 for my first try at downhilling. I need to get a rear mech and shifter . I'm wondering if there is any need shelling out for the 820/810 saint stuff as i'm only just starting out or will the zee stuff be ok?
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Comments
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Yep.0
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Given that the Zee stuff is being marketed as Saint for beginners/those with a tight budget, what do you think?0
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Does anyone know if Shimano plan on releasing short cage SLX or XT rear mechs?"Why have that extra tooth if you're not using it?" - Brian Lopes
Votec V.SX Enduro 'Alpine Thug' 2012/2013 build
Trek Session 80 -
felix.london wrote:Does anyone know if Shimano plan on releasing short cage SLX or XT rear mechs?
Why would they? zee is effectively slx for downhillers and comes in a shortcage version for use with a 11-36 cassette and saint has a mode converter to convert between narrow and wide range cassettes. Shimano have it covered with saint and zee, no need for short cage xt or slx0 -
It would be nice if they did, it's not only downhillers that want to run single ring setups. That's the main reason I run SRAM over shimano, because up til now, if you wanted a short cage Shimano mech, you had to pay £120 for it, and I'd probably break it anyway. I'd definitely break a long cage.lawman wrote:felix.london wrote:Does anyone know if Shimano plan on releasing short cage SLX or XT rear mechs?
Why would they? zee is effectively slx for downhillers and comes in a shortcage version for use with a 11-36 cassette and saint has a mode converter to convert between narrow and wide range cassettes. Shimano have it covered with saint and zee, no need for short cage xt or slx0 -
Because Zee only comes in 10sp. And I 'cos a DH specific rear mech - even a budget one with a stupid name is a waste of money imo"Why have that extra tooth if you're not using it?" - Brian Lopes
Votec V.SX Enduro 'Alpine Thug' 2012/2013 build
Trek Session 80 -
No need for either, just use SLX or XT.Maddog1979 wrote:Hi guys,
After losing my job ... and being unemployed for 8 months i'm now back working and I'm still building my Orange 224 for my first try at downhilling. I need to get a rear mech and shifter . I'm wondering if there is any need shelling out for the 820/810 saint stuff as i'm only just starting out or will the zee stuff be ok?0 -
YeehaaMcgee wrote:
No need for either, just use SLX or XT.Maddog1979 wrote:Hi guys,
After losing my job ... and being unemployed for 8 months i'm now back working and I'm still building my Orange 224 for my first try at downhilling. I need to get a rear mech and shifter . I'm wondering if there is any need shelling out for the 820/810 saint stuff as i'm only just starting out or will the zee stuff be ok?
My thoughts exactly...hence the question re short cage versions of those mechs
I have a short cage X9 mech on the DH bike but I'd like to ditch it for Shimano at some point but wont spend over £100 on a mech and shifter that let's be honest doesn't really get used that much when riding downhill. You can get an SLX mech & shifter for half that price..but no short cage!
And while we're on the subject - I'll be putting SLX brakes on the DH bike too because those on a pair of 203mm rotors will be an awesome DH brake for £120 odd rather than £250 for a set of Zee brakes!"Why have that extra tooth if you're not using it?" - Brian Lopes
Votec V.SX Enduro 'Alpine Thug' 2012/2013 build
Trek Session 80 -
felix.london wrote:YeehaaMcgee wrote:
No need for either, just use SLX or XT.Maddog1979 wrote:Hi guys,
After losing my job ... and being unemployed for 8 months i'm now back working and I'm still building my Orange 224 for my first try at downhilling. I need to get a rear mech and shifter . I'm wondering if there is any need shelling out for the 820/810 saint stuff as i'm only just starting out or will the zee stuff be ok?
My thoughts exactly...hence the question re short cage versions of those mechs
I have a short cage X9 mech on the DH bike but I'd like to ditch it for Shimano at some point but wont spend over £100 on a mech and shifter that let's be honest doesn't really get used that much when riding downhill. You can get an SLX mech & shifter for half that price..but no short cage!
And while we're on the subject - I'll be putting SLX brakes on the DH bike too because those on a pair of 203mm rotors will be an awesome DH brake for £120 odd rather than £250 for a set of Zee brakes!
A quick look on bike-discount.de shows that slx shifter and shadow plus mech works out exactly the same as the same zee with a short cage, it comes to about 80/85 euros, the zee shifter is actually cheaper than slx... XT and slx aren't designed as 1x groups, which is why there is no short cage mech for those ranges, so what is the problem with using zee if the prices are similar?0 -
Must admit didn't look on Bike-Discount just on Rose who don't seem to have any Zee kit.
Prices look good. The Zee mech is the same price as a (medium cage) XT without the clutch. and like you say the shifter is peanuts!
Good find."Why have that extra tooth if you're not using it?" - Brian Lopes
Votec V.SX Enduro 'Alpine Thug' 2012/2013 build
Trek Session 80 -
You could also use a cheap road mech - plenty of DHers used to do that in the BS days (Before Saint).
I learnt the other day that a 10 speed road mech will work with a standard 9-speed MTB setup.0 -
Just as a comparison - I trashed a long cage X7 mech in a few weeks on my downhill bike, I trashed a med cage X9 mech in a similarly short amount of time (less if anything, though i'm still persevering with it, despite the cage being bent to hell), and my short cage X7 has lasted longer than anything else. I'll not be trusting long cage mechs by shimano or sram. What's the point in having a long cage mech when you can have short and drastically improve the life of it.0
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The life may just be coincidence. The real question is, why have long cage when you don't need the range.0
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The real question is why have sram when it just falls apart?0
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"Why have that extra tooth if you're not using it?" - Brian Lopes
Votec V.SX Enduro 'Alpine Thug' 2012/2013 build
Trek Session 80 -
lawman wrote:The real question is why have sram when it just falls apart?
Cheap SRAM is very poor compared to Shimano. I would take Shimano SLX over SRAM X7 or X9 though I am liking my SRAM X0 DH rear mech, not as slick as Saint but it works well, even when plastered in mud and doesn't seem to need tuning as often as Shimano stuff. But I will replace it with Saint when it dies.Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=130702350 -
Because it was cheap at the time. False economy really.YeehaaMcgee wrote:The life may just be coincidence. The real question is, why have long cage when you don't need the range.0 -
By the real question, I meant as opposed to this...What's the point in having a long cage mech when you can have short and drastically improve the life of it.0
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IMO, if you can afford saint (and afford to buy another if you trash it) buy saint.
If you can't, buy Zee.
If you can't really afford to replace either, get a deore medium cage so you can replace if/when needed.0 -
Well it's the same question really isn't it?YeehaaMcgee wrote:By the real question, I meant as opposed to this...What's the point in having a long cage mech when you can have short and drastically improve the life of it.0 -
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The only reason I would have a long cage is if I had a triple crankset. I don't, therefore it's not necessary, and it'll save me trouble with broken mechs if I stay short cage.0
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I don't follow - long cages aren't necessarily more fragile - that's not the reason to avoid them.0
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Yes, but it's closer to the ground and is bigger.0
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Fair enough - but they're still not overly prone to being damaged - otherwise trail riders would be forever ripping their mechs off.0
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Like Chunkers said, more cage to get caught by sticks, rocks etc. A lot of the local built trails where i ride have lots of sticks/rocks etc trackside which I've ruined a couple of mechs on. The shorter the better. That and I'm quite a heavy handed rider.
If there was no benefit of short cage over long, (and lets be honest, they don't shift that much quicker), why would anyone run them?0 -
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Maybe. But that one time that a stick does get tangled up in your mech just by chance because maybe the cage was a little longer than it needed to be, well it's an expensive (and annoying) mistake.
Just saying that's my experience with them thus far.0
