newapti5

Not just reels, I ordered many stuff from Ali on weekly basis. My most recent purchase is a smart watch $100 cheaper than Amazon's, and it's exactly the same thing. Ali is like Chinese version of eBay, which means Ali itself doesn't sell anything; it only provides a platform for Chinese sellers. I hate to say this but just like eBay, it has scammers sellers, and Ali has done little to ban them. For example, if you search flash drives/thumb drives, you'll find tons of fake ones claiming to be 18T, 20T capacity, which is unheard of. Ali reels sellers, on the other hand, seem to be mostly legit, but I'd still use common sense when ordering: if the deal is too good to be true, or the seller has a lower than normal rating, stay away. Reading the comment sections definitely helps as well.

Crazy deals, but this is like winning lottery. I think I have better chance browsing through Japan online flea market sites.

I do agree on a slow jerkbait reel. My favorite jerkbait reel is a 5 gear ratio Daiwa SS SV. But with today's 8 speed reels, I honestly don't feel the need to wind super fast nowadays.

Once I discovered Japan online used tackle market, I just couldn't go back anymore. Maybe in the future when yen gets much stronger.

While we're comparing sizes, might as well talk about the length and smoothness. IMO 90mm handle length is the minimum length for any reels, BFS reels included, but over 100mm would be a bit too much. I don't need to wind the lures in like crazy fast, and I don't need that much torque for bass fishing either. IMO the knobs material and surface smoothness contribute a great deal to the reel smoothness that we actually feel. Wooden knobs, though look classic with a smooth surface, transmit vibrations the best, which could results in a slightly "geary" feel. That's why I only reserve them for the smoothest reels I have. Cork knobs and rubber knobs mask that vibration quite nicely, but their surfaces are not as smooth as wood knobs'. At last, EVA knobs excel in masking vibrations; this is why I used them for many old reels, even though their surface is just the roughest. Shimano knobs strike a perfect balance among those characteristics. They mask vibrations well and have a very smooth feel and ergonomic shape.

I think Bulldog pretty much summed it up: to solve that 2.5mm difference, you'd need an extra bearing or a plastic bushing. Either way, the size should be 4x7x2.5mm or 4x7x2mm, and then it's just a matching game with shims of different thickness, until you get no axial movements. I would put so grease in as the last step, but many others like the free spinning feel.

Their $14 1K carbon handle is a better quality and slightly lighter option:

Different people fish differently. Maybe it's the way we hold the rods, maybe it's from the water from different fishing lines, maybe it's the lures and fishing methods we used... My buddy and I bought a Bantam at the same time, and his was way geary than mine. We finally figured out the culprit : he held his rods with a slightly higher angle. My point is, I wouldn't dwell into it too much; this isn't one size fits all.

I use all sorts of brands' and manufacturers', including cheaper Chinese ones and more expensive hedgehog ones, but once debris gets in, it doesn't matter what brand it is. My fishing river and creeks could get quite muddy with debris and weed the current brings, especially during spring times, that's why I always leave the bearing shields on, otherwise I'll have to clean them on weekly basis. Casting performance wise, the best I have used is a pair of Japan ISC bearings from a Chinese made reel. They are regular stainless steel bearings, but the quietness and smoothness without oil is something I have never seen. Of course I still need to put oil in eventually.

When they're bone dry right after cleaning, they are definitely a bit loud. But once some oil/grease from other parts get into to them after some use, they'll quiet down a little. What I meant was after a relatively long while, like a whole season without maintenance, they'll get really loud with all the debris getting inside. And if that continues, eventually the bearings will be permanently damaged and no cleaning or oil can quiet them down anymore. This happened to me a couple of times. In both cases, the hybrid bearings still performed quite nicely during casting, but the screaming sound could be heard miles away.

Not anymore, because the only reels that I noticed had a significant improvement on casting were the ones with heavy spools, like the Quantam KVD reel that I have. Changing to hybrid spool bearings did alleviate its casting offset due to the heavy spool. Besides casting improvement, they also have the advantage of maintenance free, but after awhile they became really noisy if I really didn't perform any maintenance on them.

Hey that's my very first baitcasting rod! I used to believe that spending $100+ on a fishing rod is for suckers.

I am Daiwa fanboy as well, but I have owned a couple of Bantams, a couple of Cores, a couple of Mets, and an Aldebaran, all by accidents, so no worries. I plan on accidentally ordering an Aldebaran BFS soon, as I am accidentally getting into BFS fishing.

It's a nice paint job, but personally I don't quite understand the popular obsession with this particular color. I call it "vomit green".

If this happened every time you tried some fluoro, then it's not the line; it's very likely the line was kinked somehow, maybe by a chipped line guide. Fluoro line is notorious for that, because as others mentioned, any kink or sharp bend in the line will weaken it. And this is why normal knots that suit mono or braids won't work well with fluoro. I highly recommend the double improved clinch knot. I regained confidence in fluoro lines because of it, and it's the knot Seaguar recommends: