NOC 1

I've bought from Asian Portal many times, but I always shop around and can't actually recall finding cheaper. And as often as not, like you say, I'm pleasantly surprised when the bill runs through it's a few bucks less than what I thought it would be due to the exchange rates. You might have a problem with the #20 drag thing. Why do you need so much drag? I've caught 15-20 lb fish on reels that max out at about 8#.

Yeah...and so?

I am telling the truth about bearings and I'll leave it up to the OP to decide what is of consequence to him.

I don't remember if its the best ever, but I am really stoked about it right now. I just bought a NIB 6:1 OG Zillion for $200 and it's companion, a mint in the box 7:1 OG Zillion for $150. My luck is on a roll. It was only last month when I scored a never used SV103 for $175. (minus spool and handle)

It seems to me that the Shimano A shaft and the Diawa S are slightly different lengths. I am hoping that you have some magic insight here because every time I try to put Diawa Cork I-shaped knobs on a Shimano I would have to put a bushing and maybe a shim under the lower knob bearing in order to get it to fit. Which of course sort of ruins the whole look of it IMO.

I don't know what to tell you. ABEC is an American rating system, so unless BOCA is selling you American made bearings they are not ABEC rated as anything. The German bearings would have a DIN rating, The Japanese use the JIS, and most everyone else uses the ISO standards. Only American companies use ABEC. BOCA does not claim to sell American bearings, they simply say that they source their bearings from around the world when asked. People have tried to pin them down on it and can't. They are grading Chinese bearings and calling them ABEC rated. They may be decent bearings but they are not ABEC rated bearings. Is that counterfeit? I don't know. Buy them if you like them. But what I'm saying is still the truth.

IMO a full tune kit that replaces all of the bearings in a reel is a waste in a reel that already has decent bearings. You'd be better off by simply deep cleaning the bearings already there. Other than the spool bearings and maybe the Anti Reverse bearing, there is almost a zero chance that you will wear out any of the bearings in a fishing reel, unless you never do maintenance and run it with sand in it. You could use that same money to replace the bushings on the lower drive shaft and level wind with bearings, and add 4 bearings to the handles. You do not need expensive bearings for these. Then find some nice Ceramic hybrid bearings to replace the spool bearings. Try Hedgehog or other Japanese maker/Brand bearings instead of the "Orange seal" Chinese stuff. (There are some good "Orange seal bearings out there from Germany and elsewhere. But odds are the one's you'll get are just cheap Chinese copies that have been graded and sorted.) This will give you an 11 bearing reel that should feel quite a bit better than just needlessly replacing 5 non load bearing and non speed rated bearings which you will never notice the difference made by replacing with an expensive "Orange seal" bearing. You might even be able to replace the level wind pipe with a different one that allows you to add a bearing at the other end of the level wins shaft as well and in doing so maximize the reels function to 12 bearings.. I know you can with Metaniums and Bantams, I'm not sure about the other Shimano models.

I always get a kick from the bearing hype. First of all, if a bearing isn't made in the USA, then it isn't an ABEC anything. ABEC is an American industrial engineering group, yet the internet and catalogues are full of "ABEC 7" bearings from China.... Secondly, you certainly don't need and ABEC 7 bearing for a fishing reel unless you are going to be running it at like 15,000 RPM for hours at a time. The only 2 bearings in a reel that might benefit from a bearing that highly rated would be the spool bearings. If you notice, the excellent bearings sold by ZPI, Hedgehog and (and others) have no such bogus ABEC rating, They are top drawer bearings, but being made in Japan, they have no need to pretend to be ABEC rated. In my opinion the Boca bearings are somewhat of a racket. They charge as much for them as Hedgehog and they deliver mostly Chinese "Orange seal" bearings with an ABEC rating that they could never have. Save your money and just go to E-bay, Allie Xpress, or Amazon and buy the Chinese "Orange seals" from the source in bulk for less than a buck apiece. Sort the junk bearings out and you end up with the same thing. I'm just not paying those guys 10 bucks a piece to sort Chinese bearings for me. Most of my reels (40+) have either Hedgehog or ZPI Ceramic hybrids and I think that it usually does make a noticeable difference. Boca? Not so much.

For my money and a $400 budget, I'd go with a Falcon Expert rod and a Diawa Tatula SV TW or a Scorpion MGL if you would rather have Shimano. But as a new caster, I strongly recommend the Diawa SV system. It is much easier to work for a beginner.

I had a PX68 that started doing that. It was easier for me, because it started right after I changed out the spool. Took me a bit to find it though. It turned out to be that I had scarred up the spool pin just a tiny bit in one spot and just that little rough spot on the pin was hanging it up. New pin and problem went away. It doesn't take much for sure.

LOL...I feel pretty good if I'm getting 50 yd. with most stuff.

6'3", 6'6" and 6'10' are the sizes I use depending on what exactly I'm doing.

No real damage more than likely, but as others have said, you need to get it cleaned out good. Oil and grease mixed with water will homogenize or wash away and not lubricate anymore, plus it's probably got a nice layer of muck and grit in it. What IS likely to damage it is using it when it is full of grit especially with no lubrication.

I've gotten to where I prefer Mod/Fast or Moderate rods for most things not sensitivity oriented.

I have a whole gaggle of Pfueger Trions and Presidents in the 20 or 25 size that I use on Crappie rods. They aren't the lightest or the smoothest, but they are decent enough, I have been using them for years and have never had an issue with any of them.