REVIEWS DEALS BIKESHOPS TRAILS

How to make the 09 Saint 4pot brakes not feel like turd

847 Views 12 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Iceman2058, Jun 25, 2009

Nick_M2R

Discussion Starter · Jun 24, 2009

X post from brake forum

Hi all
Recently i just bought my mates 08 kona Bass off him
He also gave me a rear shimano saint brake, the new 4 pot one

Took em for their first ride and holy crap, they feel like effing turd

Modulation is non exsistant, you pull the lever in and its like nothing...nothing...nothing..not..BRAKE LOCK! , honestly my old HFX had better modulation and control than these do

The lever also has a very spongy feel, but i reckon a bleed will fix this, but will a bleed also fix the SHOCKING modulation that my unit has? Im pretty sure the brakes are better than this, and i want to get them working nicely

Also what does the freestroke adjust do? Is it like the avid pad contact adjust?

Looking forward to any help, as i really wanna get these brakes working properly, there is def no shortage of stopping power, but ive got almost no control over it...

Cheers

Save

1 - 13 of 13 Posts

jutny

· #2 · Jun 24, 2009

I might go down a rotor size to fix this issue. my levers are rock solid, so I think you're right about the bleed.

I also haven't broken in my pads properly, so we'll see what happens after another weekend of riding.

Save

AL29er

· #3 · Jun 24, 2009

Interesting. MTB198 also mentioned turd-like behavior out of his Saint brakes. Wonder what is up. Most are gushing about the power and modulation, but there are obviously a few bad apples floating around

ut:

MTB198 review

Save

snow-man

· #4 · Jun 24, 2009

Mine are amazing
Set up front and back with 8inch rotors, adjustment and modulation is perfect.

All I did was bleed them before installing. I flicked the cables while the mineral oil cap was open for at least 10 minutes each, got a TON of bubbles out of the cables.
no problems....

I'd reccomend doing the same. Any brakes out of a box/shipping should not be expected to run perfect.

Show 'em some love and they will return the favor...
Good luck

Save

hecticj

· #5 · Jun 24, 2009

ditto that mine have been amazing since day1 with 8" rotors loads of power and modulation.........................

Maybe bleed it and check the pads out, the last guy that owned them may have contaminated them?

Save

watermoccasin

· #6 · Jun 24, 2009

Mine also have excellent modulation and power (running front only on my downhill bike and my uphill bike). As snow-man said I got a ton of tiny bubbles out by tapping the hose while pumping the brake with the top cap off. Also make sure you fill the reservoir with oil before putting the cap back on. I always set the free stroke adjustment to the minimum (full clockwise). And yes, you can get really bad modulation when you have air in the lines.

Save

Dougie

· #7 · Jun 25, 2009

A bleed will definitely fix the spongy feel. I work in a shop where all of the rentals are equipped with Saints and the "no modulation" is common feedback. I took my buddy's bike for a run, with Saints, and I agree that they take a little getting used to. It's just that those brakes have TONS of stopping power and they require a very precise feel. In my opinion, you just have to teach yourself to be very precise with them.

I will say this about your set up though, I wouldn't have a Saint ONLY for a rear brake. It's tough to teach your left and right hands to modulate differently. If anything I would have the more powerful set for the front. Just my .02.

Save

Clutchman83

· #8 · Jun 25, 2009

Nick_M2R said:
Modulation is non exsistant, you pull the lever in and its like nothing...nothing...nothing..not..BRAKE LOCK! , honestly my old HFX had better modulation and control than these do

FWIW I test rode a bike with them and my experience was identical to yours. Typical fixes are run one resin pad, one metallic or smaller rotor.

Save

006_007

· #9 · Jun 25, 2009

Sell em and get a set of Maguras.

Save

PCinSC

· #10 · Jun 25, 2009

006_007 said:
Sell em and get a set of Maguras.

Specifically...Gustavs. :thumbsup:

Save

chober

· #11 · Jun 25, 2009

Nick_M2R said:
X post from brake forum

Modulation is non exsistant, you pull the lever in and its like nothing...nothing...nothing..not..BRAKE LOCK! , honestly my old HFX had better modulation and control than these do

These brakes have zero modulation when you're dicking around in the streets at low speed. They just give you whiplash. But once you get up to speed they modulate really well.

Save

Nick_M2R

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jun 25, 2009

Thanks for the replys guys, i will def try giving these brakes a bleed and hopefully it will fix the problem, i know they are better than this because my mate who i bought the Bass off has another set of saints on his NS, and they feel A HELL of alot better than mine do

Save

Iceman2058

· #13 · Jun 25, 2009

I have posted before about the near-death experience I had when I jumped on my friend's Saint-equipped bike (a Demo...and since then I have re-verified my "findings" on a Remedy)....all that power just suddenly applies with very very little modulation. It was on a lose and steep section of the trail and I had all sorts of trouble trying to control the bike. Codes have way more modulation and feel (and to think people used to complain about them!). I have no doubt you can get used to the Saints, but enough people share this opinion on the on/off nature of the new Saints that it warrants being discussed, at least...

Maybe try softer pads for the Saints, if they ship with metallic out of the box or whatever?

Save

1 - 13 of 13 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month