newapti5

Yeah that's what I think, so I don't mess with them unless necessary. But lately I noticed some reels with new gears and new clean bearings are still sort of geary, which makes me think that maybe AR bearing is the issue.

Just click the link with the "Mercari" in my post, or, this is a good one I think: https://jp.mercari.com/item/m56042749533 It's a 22 Stella in mint condition, and with current exchange rate, it's only $400. Buyee has been giving out promotion coupon lately to every user, such as 12~15% off with the price. So the discounted price would be $350, you don't need to pay tax, and buyee usually gives new users free shipping, which is usually $20. So your final price for a barely used 22 Stella 2500 is just around $350. Just use Google translate on the webpages if you encounter language barrier like I did.

Since the AR bearing is locked in the sideplate, usually I'd just use Q-tips to wipe it clean, and put some oil in it. But do you guys dissemble it from the sideplate and deep-clean it thoroughly ? I do that with SOME spinning reel AR bearings, but never try that with BC reel AR bearings.

Hmm, actually I find Bantam/Metanium a better fit for the GLX reel seat, but again I digress. Zillion is great on performance and smoothness. I guess the "Hyper" design pays off, as it's one of the smoothest Daiwa reels I've tried. But I find myself less enthusiastic about its looks. It and the new Tatula, their looks are really not that impressing.

You don't need Exsence BB, you don't need Exsence BB..... You need a Stella, a Stella, a Stella...... You need to go to JDM sites such as Mercari to find great deals on barely used Stellas, and then use proxy companies like Buyee to buy it and ship it to US, US, US....... Usually a new user can get free shipping, free shipping......

Besides fishing the early hours, how about go wade fishing in creeks? It is quite fun and cool in hot summers. And there're some monsters in small creeks, as long as you can find them.

My fishing buddy won't buy any reels that don't have a clicking drag or the ability to be upgraded to one. But I think a clicking drag is overrated.

For bank fishing bass, 7'10 is way to long. 7'1~7'3 would be the limit. On the other hand, the Blackout series is surprisingly good for its price.

That's what I thought, until I see this: I mean...

Couldn't agree more. 8oz is fine; let's put some brass gears and metal parts back in the reels.

Yeah, spending $230 for a Tatula is a bit much. Take the JDM route; there're so many options for much less. I just got an Alphas CT SV in mint condition for just $120. For your choice of lures, I believe the new Alphas SV 800, or the old Alphas SV, Alphas CT SV, they all would be perfect for that, while keeping the budget under $200. And they are superior reels than any Tatulas, design or performance wise. Or like you said, you could get a $35 third party finesse spool for your current Tatulas. They perform pretty well for light lures.

Daiwa starts printing schematics on the boxes for some reels. Also, I use them for reel storage in off season, so they don't have to collect dust for several months with the level wind worm gear exposed. During resale, it's safe for shipping as well.

There are plenty of second-handed 16 zillion for sale on eBay and similar Japan sites. For a little over $100, you can get one in pretty decent condition. I just saw one with zero scratch, AND a steez 1012 spare spool for only $150. So, IMO $180 for a new 16 zillion is an ok deal, not a great deal.

Yes but it's only one bearing one bushing kind of "P2" pinion support, which can be upgraded to dual bearing.

I'd choose the MP. It's only one bearing upgrade away from being a dual bearing supported pinion gear reel.

Yes I'm quite satisfied with the Super Natural. I wonder what the difference is between it and Defier Armilo that justifies the big price jump.

It depends. Do you want line stretch or not? Do you want extra abrasion resistance or not? Do you care about line memory/stiffness or not? ... IMO there's no one line that fits all, except maybe Tatsu.

Yes, I tend to believe that it's when the brake force at its minimum, such as the second half of the cast on a centrifugal brake reel, or a low trajectory cast during pitching, the precision of bearings will play a role in casting distance and ease. But even so, clean regular ABEC-5 SS bearings will suffice in most cases. I sometimes upgrade my reels bearings to ceramic hybrid only for the sake of maintenance free as I am lazy.

Shimano's stocking bearings are pretty good, but the best stainless steel SPOOL bearings I've used are a pair of Japan ISC bearings, 3x10x4 and ready for any Shimano reels. Without lubrication, they are the quietest and fastest; a gentle spin could easily last over 2 minutes, in total silence. But then again, what is the point of having these superb bearings on a baitcasting reel? Other than BFS, we actually don't need spool bearings of that kind of precision. I would rather trade bearing precision for durability and maintenance convenience.

Resale? I'm surprised no one has mentioned that yet. You guys must be like:

Never used the other two, but XPlasma is finesse oriented. Thin, extremely slick, not very soft, so-so abrasion resistance.

There's a limit what regular oiling and basic cleaning can do. Like others said, sometimes you just need to have it professionally serviced.

I have tried Gliss, YGK, Xplasma Asegai, etc., but the furthest casting braid line I have used is this less known Japanese Momoi Ryujin: http://momoifishing.jp/en/products/pe#sec-ryujin It's crazy smooth and very thin for each tensile strength, but naturally, the abrasion resistance isn't that good. It's more suitable for open water, but this line will DEFINITLY fly better than the other lines.

I could be wrong, but I am under the impression that we are not supposed to put oil or grease (or maybe only a tiny bit of them) into Shimano's AR bearing?

I may have some trouble understanding this method. Let's assume the pinion gear has 12 teeth. If the number of teeth on the main gear can be divided evenly by 12, say 72 teeth for a perfectly 6.0:1 gear ratio reel, that means each pinion gear tooth will only touch/mesh with 6 certain teeth on the main gear, FOREVER. In this case, yes, indexing the main gear and pinion gear would be helpful to maintain the smoothness. But in any other cases than that, each pinion gear tooth would have chance to mesh with EVERY tooth on the main gear. It just seems pointless to index the gears in these cases, especially since almost all the reels on the market now have an un-even number of gear ratio, like 6.3:1 or 7.4:1.