Weighing in at 248.5 grams, just over a half a pound. Not the lightest flat pedal on the market but not the heaviest either, an appropriate weight for DH as well as All Mountain and aggressive trail riding.
Upon further examination, this exemplifies the rest of the pedal. It's not the thinnest or the lightest, but it may be the most user friendly/low maintenance, and it has a wider platform profile compared to other flat pedals. Ball bearings and tapered axles make the Saint pedal easy to work on, and self-explanatory.
I spend a lot of time clipped in and flat pedals, and a greater percentage of that is on flat pedals with Five Ten shoes. When it comes to riding DH on a dual crown bike, I always run flat pedals. I won't get into the flat vs clip debate here in this post, but I will say, I think a skilled rider should be comfortable riding on flats and being clipped in, in all riding situations and genres, for all those young guns out there, learning how to ride, both will give you an advantage in the long run. But for DH and jumping, I prefer flat pedals. Now back to the Saints…
I first used the Saint pedals at Whistler for a week. The Saints come with a set of through pins with washers installed for a short pin set-up. Remove the washers and the pins get longer. After trying both heights, if you're looking for pedal grip, remove the washers and keep the pins long.
The pedals are easy to install with an allen or pedal wrench and stayed put on the cranks during my runs in the park. The only issue I had was on day 4. I was about to roll into lower A-Line, but glanced down and noticed the pedal body had come partially unthreaded from the axle body. I hand tightened it and it seemed OK, so I rode to the base to get a tool on it. Both pedals received a good re-tightening and have not had a problem since. I've talked to other Saint pedal users and the same thing has happened to them. The lesson here is to make sure the pedal body is tight over the axle body and re-tighten after a couple of days in a DH bike park. And Bolt checks are good. Especially in a bike park, check your bolts regularly.
After a summer of DH riding, and dusty sierra dirt, the Saints started to make a squeaking sound near days end, and I started to squirt some lube into the axle body from time to time. It doesn't squeak now, as long as it stays lubed. I opened the pedals up regressed everything and tensioned the spin to my prefereance, and they're running smooth, but they eventually started to squeak again, so I keep them lubed like a chain, and now they seem ok and spin nicely. The pins are all still intact, amazingly, and the pedals are scratched and gouged, but still ok with many years of life left in them, hopefully.
I like the shape of the Saints, and I think they are thin enough for "modern" DH bikes with low bottom brackets. They don't look thin from the top view, but they rival some of the thinnest, and are wider than most. They have a nice concaved platform and a good shape for riding DH and pedaling.
So far, the Saints have been a solid pedal that I like using. The squeakiness and tightening issue are simple maintenance issues and not something that ruin the pedal for me. I'm still using them a year later and I don't have pedal envy when I see the latest and thinnest pedals that keep showing up, so I must like them, or at least I don't dislike them. That's the kind of pedals they are… Good pedals, at a good price, that perform well, and stand up to abuse. No special features, yet everything ties together nicely to make a nice pedal that I don't have to think about when I'm focused on the terrain in front of me.
Shimano PD-MX80 Saint Pedals MSRP: $119.99*
*Can be found online for anywhere from $60-$80.