Shimano invited us to check out their 2009 Saint grouppo in Whistler a few weeks ago. We got to check out what the new and hopefully improved grouppo had to offer. See what our thoughts were as well as more details inside on their newest Saint grouppo.

To know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been. It helps to have a knowledgeable background on what was before it and to say the Saint grouppo has come a long way would be an understatement. Almost every component in the new m810 Saint grouppo has a clear vision of improvement in functionality, weight, and strength over the older m800 Saint grouppo.

Shifters (SL-M810)

The shifters are reworked and it’s clear Shimano took some features from the previous Saint shifters (shorter paddles) and combined that with a few of the current XT/XTR features. The shifter can be adjusted on the clamp itself in a similar fashion to Sram shifters to deliver a wide variety of shifter positions. The one ailment of using smaller paddles makes removing the gear cable bolt a bit harder as the space to fit a screwdriver in between can be a little tight. As you can see below, the shifter tucks quite nicely underneath the Saint brake lever.

The shifting also features a 2-way system so you can down shift in the normal Shimano fashion with your index finger, or push the lever with your thumb. Whether you like the classic Shimano trigger shifting methods or the push method of Sram, this new Saint shifter can do it all.

The lack of dual down shift (XTR can down shift twice with one stroke) is one downhillers won’t likely miss as unplanned double down shifts aren’t even a thought as you’re concentrating on maneuvering down the hill. When paired with the new Saint rear derailleur, shift pressure is increased in comparison to an XTR or even XT setup. While it doesn’t feel bad, it is something not typically prevalent when riding top end Shimano shifters and derailleurs.

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