[Closed] zee or saint?

Zee mech, xtr shifter.
Spend on contact points, save on the bit that gets smashed into rocks!

I went Zee mech, Saint shifter. SRAM X9 10-speed was a massive disappointment after SRAM X0/X9 9-speed. Zee/Saint working better than either.

Current Saint shifter is, IMO, the best shifter ever made, it is lovely. Superb Shimano build, and stolen-from-SRAM positive feel. All the best of both companies.

Current XTR, I can only describe the shifting feel as disgusting 😉 But that's personal taste, some people like clanky, some people like superlight. They all feel broken to me. I hated the doubleshift on XTR too, so light and easy to hit by mistake. I'd rather have Deore, genuinely.

See if you can try them, even if it's just a click in a shop as they feel very different. They are of equal quality.

Absolutely nothing wrong with the Zee shifter though, it's just not as ace. Shimano don't do a bad named gear component.

Mech... Well, depends. If you want tough, then Saint. If you just want the sensible cage length etc, then Zee is fine- it's basically a shorter SLX, it's marketed and perceived a bit as a gravity product but it's not really. Horses for courses. Rocket's the sort of bike that could suit either, depending on build and pilot.

For whatever it may be worth, my Ragley's 1x10 with 32T front and I'm running a GS cage XT, seems perfect. The cage might seem a little long but I reckon it gives it better chain management- a long lever to take up slack, basically.

My SS cage Saint on the 224 struggles with an 11-34 cassette (*), it shifts and ranges fine but the short cage means the chain is pretty damn slack in the 11T. I suspect a Rocket's less chaingrowthy though!

(*Yes I know it's weird but I have my reason, and it's on saturday)

Spend the money on an XTR shifter and buy a Zee RD as it's cheaper and lighter.

I got the Zee mech and matching shifter - so nice and they work, no if buts or maybes and at a price I could justify.

XTR shifter here with Zee short cage rear mech 1x10, spot on

XTR shifter, Saint mech for me. Faultless.

I've a Zee mech and SLX shifter. No complaints with either, or my XT shifter. But the Zee is basically an SLX mech with a short cage, nothing special.

My zee rear mech and shifter haven't missed a beat

Zee mech and shifter. Works brilliant and was easy to set up.

Cheers guys

I've broken 2 X9 10spd shifters and a X0 10spd shifter inside 12 months.
I've never broken a shimano shifter. So I'm staying with Shimano for gearing from now on.

I might just buy the zee shifter and mech. I can't really justify the extra outlay for the saint.

x0 10sp rear mech for sale! about a year old. 😆

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/misearch.html?serchform=directsend&query=zee

Ok I dont like to do this as I beleive in supporting lbs
But I would recommend ordering from there. Its where I got m zee setup. Worked out really cheap compared to crc and lbs.

Zee mech is miles weaker than Saint - it's more Deore level than SLX, IMO

Northwind - Member

Current Saint shifter is, IMO, the best shifter ever made, it is lovely. Superb Shimano build, and stolen-from-SRAM positive feel. All the best of both companies.

Current XTR, I can only describe the shifting feel as disgusting But that's personal taste, some people like clanky, some people like superlight

Don't get that at all - have Saint on the DH bike, XTR on the trail bike - you click them they change. Pretty sure I couldn't tell them apart blindfolded. Never had cause to complain about the XTR in any way

That's weird! I've ridden a few bikes with the new XTR on now and it's always felt the same- very old-Shimano, like the cable's snapped. No issue with the shifting, mind, just the lever feel.

Maybe I don't take much notice of shifting. Or the clutch XTR feels different. But genuinely can't relate to any kind of "broken" or "superlight" feel.

the Zee stuff is as cheap on Tweeks cycles, and should be here a bit quicker hopefully

Ordered Tuesday morning. Arrived Friday midday ish. So quick for coming from Germany

ordered Zee from tweeks, £80 for both. It would have cost more like £180 for Saint. I think Zee will do for my needs. (You watch I'll rip it off first ride out now.)

Thanks as always for your opinions.

Northwind

Current Saint shifter is, IMO, the best shifter ever made, it is lovely.

Agree with you 100%

Saint shifter. Zee rear mech. The saint shifter feels stunning. The zee mech is tough, shifts smoothly and the clutch works beautifully. I think it's better made than slx and xt, both of which have plastic clutch levers. I've hit a log square on with at maybe 15mph with a zee mech and it survived and got me home. Albeit twisted. I doubt a saint mech would survive anything a zee wouldn't. Cetainly without being twisted beyond repair.

The XTR shifter is nice but I find it a bit vague compared to even xt and nowhere near the feel of saint.

honourablegeorge

Don't get that at all - have Saint on the DH bike, XTR on the trail bike - you click them they change.

I'm guessing you don't have the current M820 10spd saint shifter? Either that or perhaps you wear boxing gloves when riding?? 😕

honourablegeorge

Zee mech is miles weaker than Saint - it's more Deore level than SLX, IMO

In the past 12 months I've been unfortunate enough to have broken every shimano rear mech from Deore up (except slx) and the zee is second only to saint for toughness.

Yep, the 820.

My Zee mech lasted less than an day. Not what I'd call tough.

honourablegeorge

Yep, the 820.

honourablegeorge

My Zee mech lasted less than an day. Not what I'd call tough.

I had an XT shadow plus rear mech last one ride. Fairly tame low speed fall, bent it beyond repair. XTR shadow plus rear mech on a demo bike....one day, cracked the cage. I'm on my second zee mech now, they are superb. I couldn't believe the wallop my last one took. I thought I'd written off the frame, never mind the mech but the mech had taken the full impact of the crash (log sitting parallel to the trail) and still worked.

You were just unlucky.

I thought I was unlucky, but there were a lot of people having similar problems with zee - maybe a bad batch, but there were a lot of failures. Shimano were replacing them

Zee is only for 1x10 right?

Did you have a mechanical failure or a crash George? I don't think I'll buy anything else for the foreseeable. A load of my friends run them too with zero issues.

Zee is only 1x10 right? No good for a double?

jimjam - Member
I doubt a saint mech would survive anything a zee wouldn't.

The Saint mech's built like a tank- the upper body's braced/triangulated, Zee lacks all that stuff. I'm not 100% but I suspect the cages might be the same part though... But then, cages are easy to straighten, bodies aren't.

That's right mosey, short cage is good for 1 x 10, medium cage is good for 2 x 10, long cage is good for 3 x 10.

There can be a slight overlap dependant on the size/tooth count on the front chainrings you run and the spread of the rear cassette but unless you have access to a bike shop's worth of cassettes and chainrings it is not worth buggering about.

Zee is only for 1x10 right?

It'll work with 9 speed if you use a SRAM 9 speed shifter. All it needs is a 5-6mm spacer at the mech end of the cable - Google it if if you're interested.

jimjam - Member

Did you have a mechanical failure or a crash George? I don't think I'll buy anything else for the foreseeable. A load of my friend run them too with zero issues.

Nothing major, failed at the pivot, I assumed it had hit something, but there were no major impacts

Cheers fellas, standard shifter front but running 2x10 so need a medium. SLX it is then.

My first Zee mech failed on one of its (maybe its exact) first ride - didn't hit anything, just snapped through the casting and then pivot broke and cage twisted as it got tangled in the cassette. I can't see how that can have been anything other than a manufacturing fault. Was replaced under warranty.

Actually it could have failed at the pivot first and then the casting snapped and cage bent. Whatever, I don't think it was indicative of the strength or reliability of the mech, so far removed from normality was this behaviour.

Running saint shifter and zee short cage mech on the trail bike. Works great. The saint shifter is very nice. I think it has quite a different feel to the XT shifter I had before which felt pretty light. While I would not notice the difference of a shifter on the DH bike as there are too many other things to think about, it makes a bigger difference on the trail bike.