Nick S

I flush new spool bearings on casting reels and maybe clean the extra grease out of the inside of the pinion gear to improve casting but that's it. Spinning reels there's no point, extra lube in a spinning reel won't hurt anything.

You keep saying back and forth or "for and aft" play in the spool. The only thing a sloppy AR bearing would cause is BACKPLAY in the handle. If the handle or spool has play in both directions when one or the other is held tight that play is in the gears or where the spool pin sits in the pinion gear. It's that simple. DUDE!

Yeah I understand what an AR bearing does. I just don't get how that causes forward and back play in the spool like you described. The anti-reverse bearings locks the main shaft not the spool. If the handle is held tight and the spool still has forward and back play the slop is in the gears or where the spool pin seats in the pinion gear.

So how can a AR bearing cause front to back movement of the spool when it's engaged? There will always be movement backwards unless you are holding the handle tight. If the handle is tight and spool still moves forward and back it has nothing to do with the AR bearing.

I have the bb1 pro and it been a great reel so far. But I've never used the winch or the daiwa so I can't really say which reel is best. I will say that lews has unmatched customer service the few times I've needed a part for my other lews reels.

If you are holding the handle tight and there's front to back play in the spool it's not possible for it to be caused by the ar bearing. If it was caused by the ar bearing the handle would have the same movement. What causes slop in most shimano spools is the notch in the pinion gear that slips over the spool pin doesn't fit tight.

It's also a moderate action.

It's not a dual braking system. It's a centrifugal braking system that is adjustable externally without opening the side cover. No magnets. I'm not saying either reel is superior and I realize lews and abu reels are made in the same factory and share a lot of parts. Some of the reels are nearly identical but not these.

I'm not saying I like either one of them better. I'm just saying there's a big difference between the two reels. Just because they are made in the same factory doesn't mean they are the same. I guarantee anyone could tell the difference between the two reels blindfolded because they are not the same reel. What's so hard to understand about that?

Here's the two reels braking system side by side. Don't see how you could possibly compare them. The abu has a magnetic and centrifugal brakes while the lews had an externally adjustable centrifugal only braking system. The Lew's bb1 pro is available in 4 different gear ratios, non of which are the same as the winch. "Same basic platform" ?? I don't know what you even mean by that. Don't know where you got the .2 oz difference lews is 6.5 abu is 6.9.

Look I wouldn't pay 25 dollars for a triumph x rod! The regular triumph yes but not the x.

How do you figure? Different gear ratios, different frames, different spools, different braking system, different weights, different handles....

I think the reason you're hearing reports of these rods breaking is because they are sold at walmart. I would never buy a rod from Walmart unless it was extremely discounted. Everybody and their brother has messed with those rods on the rack at walmart.

I love my falcon bucoo casting rods, never had one break. They are the best casting rods in that price range imo. Just don't get the micro version, the guides are junk they bend and break off VERY easily.

Those rods are both moderate action and not the best choice for bottom contact baits in my opinion. I have the 7' medium and it's great for smaller crankbaits and jerkbaits. I've never understood why falcon doesn't offer medium or medium light fast action spinning rods in the bucoo series. I would definitely buy some if they did.

I agree with that. I've had many shimano casting and spinning reels over they years and still use quite a few. The D series curados and chronarchs are my favorite and I'll continue to use them until parts are impossible to find. Didn't care for the e series reels, they lost their smoothness quickly. Never owned any g series reels. I have an I series curado and citica which are ok so far. (But I wouldn't pay any more for the curado, the citica is the same reel.) The only shimano spinning reels I've ever liked are the stradic fj and ci4+ (4000 size ci4+). The rest have all been a huge disappointment with durability and binding issues. Just sold my new stradic fk, like you said it felt cheaply made. Definitely didn't feel as solid as my fj's and didn't feel like it had that effortless cranking power the fj's and ci4+ have. A good example of shimano cheapening thier reels are the symetre and saros. They both used to have aluminum frames and now they're graphite. These are all just my experiences with these reels, if others have had good luck with every shimano reel that's great. To say that anyone complaining about shimano reels has never used one is just nonsense.

My symetre fl had the worst binding problems out of any of the symetre reels I've owned. X-ship is just a bearing supporting the bottom of the pinion gear, many other spinning reels from different manufactures have the same thing. The only reason I bought it was because I liked my fj stradics so well and figured shimano had fixed the binding issue, but I was wrong. I'm not the only person to have binding problems with the new symetre fl, just do a quick search on this site and I'm sure you'll find others who have had this issue.

The D series curados and chronarchs were the best imo.

Removing the friction ring only helps shimano reels that have the old black ring that swelled up and rubbed the rotor. The symetre fj and new fl reels still bind and it has nothing to do with the friction ring. Even if it did you shouldn't have to remove parts from a hundred dollar reel to use it! Shimano should have fixed the issue years ago but they still deny the problem and produce spinning reels that bind.

If you do decide to buy a front drag spinning reel the pflueger supreme and daiwa ss tournament are hands down the best reels under 100 bucks.

I wouldn't pay 50 cents for a shimano symetre. The fi and fj had terrible binding problems if they got the slightest bit wet. Shimano STILL hasn't fixed the binding problem with the new fl, although they did cheapen it up by making the frame graphite instead of aluminum and replacing the main gear bearing with a nylon bushing.

I don't understand why anyone would choose the casitas over the citica which you can find for the same price. I got my citica for 107 on ebay, and now I wish I wouldn't have payed 125 for my curado because it's the same reel. Have you used the citica or curado I? Do you think the casitas is better for the price?

Check out the new certate!

They use the same blanks as the rage not the avid, although they are both made with the same sclll material. I have a one of the new mojo 7' 1" medium spinning rods and it's great for the price! I'll definitely be buying more of them.