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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.

In other words, add obsessive to the list of pejoratives used to disparage people who want more than cheap run of mill gear. Thanks for your contribution... PS as a certified audio engineer I will tell you that there ought to be a significant difference between a $1000 stereo and and a $500 stereo. Maybe people "obsessed" people also have tin ears? But, I'm only 65 and have only been fishing for 55 years or so, so maybe I'll mature out of not wanting to use cheap gear.

i think I just added both of these works of art to my list... P.S..You nailed it on the psychology thing I'd say. Yeah, me too...problem is that I also found a nice NIB SS Air for a darned good price too. with a little luck I won't be able to make up my mind and will miss out on both...

I guess I already have all of the reels I wanted, but yet a guy could always use another Steez, SV103, J-Dream, Zillion or Metanium,....or maybe an SS Air, or a Nice Ryoga or Namiki Steez LTD? I guess I may be an addict...

Keep using the zip tie and wrap it all up cork tape made for bicycle handle bars?

True this. I couldn't tell any difference at all between a Lew's (I think it was an LFS?) and an Abu Revo SX. Same everything except for appearance and spool. And I won't swear that the spool was actually different except for appearance maybe. like everyone else, I'd guess they are having supply problems. They probably have enough parts to keep the reel mechanics working, but not enough to sell right now.

Like someone said earlier, the fishing hobby is very strange when it comes to gear. I know guys who will blow $2000 on a golf weekend flying their very expensive clubs all over the place in $800 golf bags. I know people who will blow $250 for drinks and dinner at a decent restaurant and not think it a waste. I know a guy who ordered a $15,000 engraved special built rifle just to take on his $20,000 safari. But no one gives these guys the kind of grief we here who buy $600 fishing reels get. We even see guys who themselves have spend $100,000 or more on a boat and truck disrespect those of us who buy expensive rods and reels as being schmucks. There are a few people who have some issues to work out I think.

I understand your point. It is, after all one of the very basic tenets of a market based economic. It's just that standing alone, that statement though true as far as it goes isn't the entire story. What something costs is not just based on what people will pay for it, something costs what it costs and if the market won't bear what it costs plus profit, that thing is just not made. I guess all I'm really saying is that it is not just a matter of a MegaBass costing more simply because the maker has convinced credulous dupes into paying more for something that they could find equivalent for cheap. It actually does cost more to make them and they actually are better rods than the cheaper rods. I get what you are saying , that at some point it is possible that there would not be enough people who found them valuable enough to pay that much, but at that point, He just stops making rods that good. It's not like he can just ratchet the price down for that same rod down far enough to compete with the mid level and cheaper stuff. They do make some, like the Leggera which ARE strictly a status/presentation buy, and with those rods, Your saying is much closer to the whole story. Can you feel a tiny gnat landing on your hand? Can you feel a gnat land on your $1000 fishing rod?...I'd say we have some more to go... Perhaps you are not so much enlightened as just not able to feel the difference. Maybe others can?

Because no one else makes much of anything anymore except for them? Hmmm...I've heard stories about stuff like that. As for myself I have ordered a few bling parts from Allie and have never had an issue but that is about the whole of my experience. I don't believe that I would buy direct from some bag of doughnuts guy in China if I knew it.

If you want to keep it all that simple then I would just say that some people don't mind buying and using mediocre or worse gear, while others want better. Of course for the most part people won't pay for what they don't value. Some just don't value the differences. Some do but CAN'T buy the difference. Others just don't know the difference.

I am a fiend for balanced rods and I almost always use a Matagi Butt Cap that will allow me to unscrew it and take off or add weight to precisely fit the reel. That said, if you are trying to balance the rod at the handle where you actually put your hand you are probably going to be disappointed. if you insist however, just weigh the reel and add that for starters and THEN start adding more weight until it balances. The point I'm making is that the way you are trying to do it (I think) requires you to account for the reel weight as well. If you can get it to balance anywhere under the reel you are golden. I usually shoot for a balance point at the front tip of the foot of the reel. The thing is if you balance it at the grip you'll end up with a rod that weighs maybe 15 Oz. and I'd bet that you like that a lot less than just balancing it at the reel seat. If it is a well designed rod it should normally take an once or less.