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Shimano Saint M820 Disc Brake
The Good

- Reliable - Powerful - Easy to work on, find parts

The Bad

- Bit old and still pricy

Overall Review
I run a few pairs of saints, some of them 10 years old and simply can't fault them. I've replaced some with M8120, but ultimately the Saint is still ahead thanks to more robust lever blade and possibly slightly more consistent feel, though I find almost no issues with either. They simply work. I've tried magura, hope, sram, trp and hayes to some extent, and neither made me consider switching off the Saint. The power is easily available but I find it easy to modulate. It may be a difficulty for someone switching from Sram or Magura, where you grab the brake by a handful while with Saints you...
Posted by MrDuck on 2/25/2024 10:00am
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Shimano XT M8120 Disc Brake
The Good

- Immediately available power - Stiff lever modulated by force, not by "squish" - Reliable - Easy to bleed

The Bad

- Fragile lever blade

Overall Review
These feel similar in overall power to the Saint, though something about the "feel" is nicer in the M8120. Had a few pairs, one of those going for 5 years now and they've been nearly maintenance free other than changing pads. The lever blade on the current model is oddly fragile at a very obvious spot. Once I broke one, I replaced the blades themselves with XTR which are made of solid aluminium rather than the XT's sheet or what would I call it. I've heard people complain about wandering bite point and have experienced it myself once or twice on the trails. That said, out of a thousand rides I...
Posted by MrDuck on 2/25/2024 9:45am
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