Shimano Saint M820 brakes

SHIMANO'S MIGHTY SAINT comes marching in with massive power, single-finger control and excellent reliability but some details disappoint.

The small, hooked lever drives through a Servo Wave cam that brings the brake to bite point quickly before increasing power. Add the four-piston calliper with its long pads and it's one of the most powerful brakes around. Once you're used to the cam feel and sheer stopping performance it's beautifully modulated too, so you can single-finger through the sketchiest conditions. The finned pads dump heat effectively on long descents, reliability is excellent and they're easy to bleed too. But the bite point dial is ineffectual, the optional finned Freeza rotors only fit Center Lock splined hubs and Shimano's own Zee brake is far better value.

WEIGHT 474g

POWER 146m/s^-2

PRICE 315$

ENVE M50 29" Wheels

Utah based company ENVE have been making drool-worthy carbon components for some years now. Despite the fact that carbon rims are becoming more and more common on mountain bikes these days, you can guarantee that ENVE wheels will be a talking point when someone is eyeing off a steed. Instantly, the big bold logos on each rim scream "fast", "light" and to some extent, "expensive" The kids call this 'bling'.

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COMMENCAL EL CAMINO 3

Commencal are going from strength to strength at the moment and they’ve taken their tough trail hardtail bang up to date with 650b wheels. With its skinny rims, crankset and fork, the El Camino certainly isn’t perfect and it’s the least hardcore bike here. The handling, smoothness, speed and all-round agility of the basic bike still make it a real blast for technical trail riding though, and it’s a great base for upgrading over time.

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All Arround MTB

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