Shimano Saint Prototype - Pietermaritzburg World Cup
The first round of the World Cup series in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, is likely going to be ground zero for a number of new, prototype bikes and parts that will be put to the test under the world's best riders. Included on that list is Trek World Racing's Aaron Gwin, who's Session 9.9 race bike was observed sporting what is clearly a prototype Shimano rear derailleur. Gwin ran away with last year's World Cup overall, taking a record five wins in the process, but besides being incredibly fast and consistent he is also known for providing great feedback about the gear he is using. He was one of the few riders last season who was making use of Shimano's prototype Saint brake calipers, so it made sense when PB photographer Fraser Britton spotted what looks to be a prototype 2013 Saint rear derailleur bolted to his bike. Our questions to Shimano went unanswered, but there is plenty to be learned from the photo below.
The prototype unit, with its handmade and unfinished appearance, clearly stands out from the current model year Saint derailleur's black and gold colours, but it doesn't take a magnifying glass to see that there is much more going on here. Spot that black cover held in place with three screws directly over where you would normally expect to see the main cage pivot? The not-so-mysterious cover is hiding the derailleur's friction clutch, likely a very similar unit to what is found on the current XTR derailleur, as well as on the upcoming 2013 XT and SLX models. That much is for certain, but what does come as a surprise is the prototype's complete lack of a 'clutch lever' (the anodized gold switch on the Shadow+ XTR derailleur) that would allow the friction mode to be engaged and disengaged. This begins to make more sense when you consider that quick wheel changes, a job that would benefit from disengaging the derailleur's clutch, won't overly concern the majority of downhillers. The prototype derailleur's clutch is still likely to employ an adjustment feature, though, via an internal friction nut that is turned to alter the cage's resistance.
Pinkbike's Take:
www.shimano.com
<Deleted photo>
The prototype unit, with its handmade and unfinished appearance, clearly stands out from the current model year Saint derailleur's black and gold colours, but it doesn't take a magnifying glass to see that there is much more going on here. Spot that black cover held in place with three screws directly over where you would normally expect to see the main cage pivot? The not-so-mysterious cover is hiding the derailleur's friction clutch, likely a very similar unit to what is found on the current XTR derailleur, as well as on the upcoming 2013 XT and SLX models. That much is for certain, but what does come as a surprise is the prototype's complete lack of a 'clutch lever' (the anodized gold switch on the Shadow+ XTR derailleur) that would allow the friction mode to be engaged and disengaged. This begins to make more sense when you consider that quick wheel changes, a job that would benefit from disengaging the derailleur's clutch, won't overly concern the majority of downhillers. The prototype derailleur's clutch is still likely to employ an adjustment feature, though, via an internal friction nut that is turned to alter the cage's resistance.
Pinkbike's Take:
 | So how does the Shadow+ friction clutch work, and why it make sense on a downhill bike? The clutch provides friction in only one direction so the pulley cage can't swing forward until a shift overcomes the clutch pressure - that keeps the chain from becoming slack between the derailleur and the chain ring. This is said to work wonders for keeping chain noise down, as well as lessening the chance of losing a chain over rough trails, on bikes that use a front derailleur, and that may have excess chain slack in certain gear combinations, but it could also make sense on downhill bikes due to their long travel suspension and the speed at which they can cover ground. Chain retention is a fairly dialled art these days, with riders rarely losing a chain with the proper setup, but the added tension provided by the Shadow+ clutch will likely lower the chances of it occurring to close to zero. - Mike Levy |
www.shimano.com
Author Info:
Member since Oct 18, 2005
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@Shimano/Sram: Bring back 6/7speed to DH specific groupsets!
The hope lies in HOPE
I guess you just need to learn to set up your shifting first...
But as others say 6/7 speed DH specific would be good , maybe not if you cycle to your trails but this will be a DH product .
I bet they will make some thing like this soon but they need to think of how they are gonna get away with charging 200 pounds for gear range that was around in the 80's
"i like my first gear, and i like the last one. It just gives me more options between both"
Also, does anyone notice that in the picture, it looks like he's running a 3 speed? Either that, or that is the tightest ratio 10 speed I've ever seen...how many teeth could possibly be on that last ring? Like 18? it's the size of the axle!
Not weird at all. I would totally run 8-speed on my dh bike. parts are readily available, and everything is cheaper: chain, cassette, shifter, rear derailleur. Plus, 8-speed cassettes fit on all modern freehub bodies so no need to change wheels, or engineer new ones.
- Replace your cassette with the selected sprockets form your new cassette and some SS kit spacers on either side of the rings (this doesn't usually work with an 11 tooth cog depending on the thickness of the spacers)
- Replace your old derailleur limit screws with new M4 allen bolts and limit your derailleur into the extremes of your new smaller ratio cassette.
Just use your standard shifter and derailleur (aside from limit screw mod). I've only ever used this on Shimano set up so I'm not sure if it'd work for SRAM, but I'm sure that there'll be something I've forgotten, so be nice pinkbikers.
And does anyone else notice that there appears to be no lever to engage/disengage the clutch??!!!!1111one
I thought that in MTB, the first thing you would expect from a drive train is the shifting precision and reliability, you do want that gear to be in when pedalling out of corner towards a jump. The only reason why I changed to 10sp was wide range cassette 11-36, but I learned it is just me whining about two teeth less comparing to 9sp 11-34 cassette. Look at SRAM 9sp vs 10sp - which one feels more precise? kling! klang! dong! kling! - 9speed. 10s X7 and X9 are a chinky poo, you need to buy X0 to get 9sp X7 shifting performance.
Let's leave those arguments of quicker shifting and smoother gear ratio transitions to roadies shall we?
awesome...for roadies...!
yup they did this last time and probs do this with all their prototypes. Shame really I'm a big fan of the look (like in Thomson and that) but there you go.
Bought a 9 speed XTR 12-34 casette.
Cut off the two large sprocets.
Then got a XTR shifter that can shift 2 gears down and 4 up in one push or pull.... and a Saint rear derailleur.
Results:
7 gears 12-27 gearing.
Shifting from 27 to 12 in just 3 clics
On some of the racetracks up here that are between 60 sec to 3 minutes long i have seen improwements in my runs from 0,5sec to a whole second.
The bigger the company, the harder it is to control "the wild beast of profit", or like Marx calls it: "never having enough, self consuming monster"
In case of bike industry it seems to me that many companies are way beyond the point of doing something for the sport without having profit as nr1 on the list of priorities. Just like there are many people wanting to buy something just for the very sake of having it without really needing it.