Any experience of the new Saint brake?

[anniesdad]

I'm considering speccing my FR/DH bike up with the new Saint brake as by all intents and purposes it seems to be the way forward, for me at least. I like the fact that it seemingly has masses of power, easy modulation for pad contact from the lever and it looks quite sturdy, over-engineered perhaps? Oh and it's also quite pimp!...there is however a weight penalty over my other possibility of the Elixir CR. I've got mates who run the CR and so far at least they've had no reason to complain about them, they say that the brakes work....mightily....and the pad contact adjust actually works (unlike my Hope V2's).

So just wondered if anybody has had any experience of the Saint and whether they'd recommend them or not? And is there any tangible benefit to running these over the Avid's? I know that MBUK had a brake test last month and the Saint came out on top in the DH category, the CR's being marked down for vastly reduced pad life in poorer conditions.

Cheers

S

[MrGman]

I've had some 09 saints since late december, all i can say is that they are absolutely awesome, more power than you could ever imagine, excellent modulation (but at the same time have a real nice bite to them) and as you say they do look really nice. The biggest thing i've found with them is how they work in any conditions unlike my old hayes. I've used them in real thick mud and real wet conditions and they just....... work!!!
These were a final part to a new bike build i done and i came so close to settling for something else as these just kept being put back (original release dates were sept 08 iirc) really pleased i waited for them though.
Definitely gets my recommendation

[-C-]

If you're used to the weight of a V2 then a Saint shouldn't put you off.

I've read up a bit about them of late. The three main moans are the weight, severe lack of modulation & too much power.

Unless you're a big lump, they would probably be overkill, much like the Code.

I wouldn't read too much into an MBUK review, have a read into some real end user reviews & similar options.

If it was me, I would look for a cheap (well, as cheap as you can find them) set of Formula The One. Very powerfull, silly light & huge modulation, but not cheap.

[Rico]

Only experience I've had of an Elixir was on a demo Session88 a shop had and it was fooked!

Stick with Shimano Steve. They're a sensible choice, some might say boring, but they're reliable, solid, well priced and just, well, work!

[anniesdad]

Cheers guys for the comments, much appreciated.

I don't need to make a decision yet, so I'll do a little more homework on the subject.

It seems you can't really get an unbiased opinion these days!