Have been very disappointed with shimano lately, all my reels have had friction rings turn to goo making the reel un-useable, last time was on the river bank, long walk back to the truck to get another reel, I replaced most rings with newer blue rings supplied by shimano at no charge but friction rings for my stradic 2500 are no longer available from shimano, had to order from Southwestern, $13.95 and from the feel of it I don't think will last, so long short of it all is I have gone back to Daiwa's and could not be more pleased, Daiwa does not use friction rings to Band-Aid design flaws, also if not for Daiwa's R&D and continued improvements shimano and others would have remained unchanged for the past 30 years.
On another note if you experience a spinning reel binding at one particular spot be sure to check the main shaft for a slight bend, even if you can't see it the slightest bend will cause binding. remove the shaft and roll it over a straight (flat) surface.
