The calliper is identical other than markings but what about the master cylinder? They look the same to my eyes but is there an internal difference?
What is the difference between XT 8020 brakes and Saint Brakes?
I haven't seen it in the flesh, but it looks like the plastic top cover of the master cylinder is just painted black now as opposed to it being all metal on the Saint's.
Hi!
The lever unit is ISPEC II on the 8020 instead of ISPEC B (Saint) and the clamping surface is much narrower on the 8020. And that’s bad. If you don’t torque the 8020 clamp pretty tight, the lever body will flex considerably. Bad for carbon bars. With enough torque it works though.
The Saint lever feels much more sturdy and the lever blade has a nicer shape.
Modulation is a tad different, as the servo wave path is changed slightly. 8020s modulate a tiny bit softer.
That said, with a proper bleed and identical brake pads, performance and modulation are almost indistinguishable.
I have the 8020s on my main bike and the Saint on my spare bike. Zees on my wife’s ride.
Best product - Saint.
Best value - ZEE.
8020 is a fine brake too, the lever clamp issue is more of an annoyance than a deal breaker.
But differences are not big.
If a bike comes with 8020s I wouldn’t bother upgrading. In fact I am hesitating to swap the 8020s with the Saints before selling of my spare bike - because of internal cable routing. Laziness is bigger than the performance difference IMHO.
BUT if I’d be buying new brakes, I’d then get the ZEEs with metallic sintered pads. The levers have the wider clamp and they pair nicely with most 11spd shifters (problem solvers or Trickstuff or direct mount shimano rapidfire) and value is great.
The new 8120 or the 4pot SLX look fantastic, as the levers are even more clever. BUT they only pair with I-Spec EV shifters. That means ONLY 12SPD Shimano or (all) SRAM triggers with problem solver adaptors to the matchmaker mount.
Last edited by: Znarf on Nov. 11, 2019, 11:57 a.m., edited 2 times in total.
FWIW the Saint/Zee are still on the older style master cyclinder design, which seem to be less prone to the wandering bite point issues of the M7/8/9xxx series brakes
Thanks for that. I was just curious. I just bought a pair of 8020 for super cheap from my LBS to replace the Guide RSC that I had been using. The new bike I bought in the spring came with the 8020 and when I rode the other bike I was always disappointed with the function of the Guide brakes. Less power and heavier lever feel.
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