ABU is overpriced

Got into fishing using Fenwick, but there's no reason to buy them now.

I had an older gen GLX. And as i said above, i have nothing against their blanks, they're very good, its just that for the price they're being sold, i would expect much more.

Only have experience with the Zodias, and i couldn't stand the two i had.

Stuck inductor will only get you an unusable reel with older, thinner inductors like the Type R tapered inductors and so on. Less of an issue on SV spools because the inductors are thicker and taller, and even while stuck, have enough braking force when fishing at higher adjustements on your mag dial. And those plastic bases on sv spools break so often, Daiwa should just fix em to the spool with epoxy, or something. No reason not to.

Those daiwa handles are so ugly. For $35 you can find a much better, and better looking handle on Ali. But to know if daiwa handles fit on those Chinesium brands, you gotta measure the shaft.

Wasn't the reel too wild during a cast? If so, reducing the braking force would make it even worse. I have had this happen on one sv spool as well, but what happened is the opposite, it applied too much braking force, and i couldn't cast anywhere near normal distances.

Haven't used them, but they do feel much better than i thought Legit Design rods would. Not tip heavy either.

If your sv105 backlashed too often, its 100% because the magnetic rings on your palming side plate have spun because the glue that holds em has lost its effect. When those magnets arent in their original angles, the magnetic force that's applies on the spool during a cast becomes significantly weaker, and the reel becomes unusable. Have had it happen on multiple OG steez reels and one TDZ. Pretty easy fix, tho.

"Who cares" ain't an answer. We're not talking about a $10 item.

And this is exactly my point. I am not trying to imply that the brand is bad, their rods (or should i say their blanks instead?) are excellent, and one of the better there is, but for the price they're charging, they should be significantly better speced (Torzite guides shouldn't even be a question for $600USD+ rods), and look like a $600+ rod. But its as if criticizing a quality beloved brand is forbidden, and those who own their rods, refuse to say anything negative about em because it makes them feel bad about their purchase.

I only order from Plat. https://www.plat.co.jp/shop/catalog/optionparts/

Not sure how to answer that question. How exactly do you expect, say, a reel from 2005 to perform when compared to a reel from 2023? From the Daiwa side, older reels (everything is related to the spool, not the reel) were casting much further than almost everything currently produced by Daiwa today, because they focus too much on SV spools, which are not too hot at long distance casting. But then, SV spools are way better at skipping, casting at head wind, capable of casting smaller lures, etc. All in all, old or new, they have their pros and cons. If you purchase a quality older model such as a Steez 103SH for example, they were amazing in 2007, and they're as amazing today (unless you dislike how they palm, but this applies to any reel, new or old). A quality reel doesn't become irrelevant because new generations of the steez line have been released. But at the same time, if you purchased a used steez that has seen 10 years of usage without ever being cleaned, don't expect a smooth performer. Clean it, replace what needs to be replaced, installed a new brass gear set, and that thing will be as pleasant to use as the highest end shimanos or daiwas released today, while also being ultra smooth, and have access to 50+ custom spools that you could try in it to change its casting characteristics.

Baitcasters tech isn't advancing very fast, and most of the new features, are just overhyped by the manufacturer to make you buy/upgrade to the newest model. But what Shimano and Daiwa offers that others do not, well, there a lot. Some of it might not mean much to you or somebody else, but to others, it means a lot. For example. I love the spools intercompatibility that's on offer from Daiwa, especially with reels that use the 34mm spools like the 21 Zillion. I have a lot of custom spools with different lines, and i swap em a lot. How many people do this on here? Probably no more than 5 other posters, but to me its so important that it very well could be a deal breaker. I want the new steez real bad, it looks just like a superior 21 zillion to me, but because they removed the zero adjuster completely, and the reel doesn't support 34mm spools like the 2016 steez tw, i will never buy that reel. This intercompatibility of spools is something that does not exist with any other brands, including Shimano themselves. You could also mention Daiwa gear sets that are far ahead of everything else when it comes to longevity, while also being glassy smooth. Some will tell you that they're all about that T-wing, because they use 16-25lb fluoro a bunch, and the twing helps with thick diameter lines. Personally, i couldn't care less about anything T-wing related, but as i mentioned above, i might not be into it, but others are, and that on its own might very well be that "advancement" they were looking for in a baitcaster. I also believe that Shimano and Daiwa frames design is so far ahead of all of those Chinese and Korean reels that they're in their own league. And yes, when i spend hundreds of dollars, i care about the looks as much as i care about the reel's performance, palmability, longivity, etc.

You sure about those grays and blacks?😎

How could you not recognize the best "large" baitcaster ever made? Its a Z2020 of course. Have been begging on forums for 10 years for this thing to come out in 100 size☹ https://www.tiktok.com/@kamarulnizlee/video/7114967209738341659

You say that its not a Zillion, and that it didn't cost you as much. A Zillion costs $200 from Japan. Is this supposed to be expensive for a quality Made In Japan baitcaster? It isn't. Far from it. Now you got my point. The quality you can get from Daiwa, for VERY reasonable price, is so far ahead of those Okumas, Lews, Abus and whatever else, that its simply not worth considering the rest, they're way too behind, and they will never be able to catch up.

I prefer daiwa, but Shimano is also good. Own both, and have no intention of wasting money on any other brand. Why is that? They're inferior, its that simple. But that's not even the full story. Other brands aren't just inferior, but cost as much, or more than D/S offerings, so why would i waste my time on those other brands? If an Audi costs the same, or less than a Hyundai, why would i ever even consider a Hyundai? 🤣

I dunno about most mass produced rods having these kind of amateur mistakes. You never see this with megabass, shimano, daiwa, olymic, etc. And by never, i mean extremely rarely, not "literally" never, of course. Y'all are giving them a pass😊

lol ain't not a troll post. Simply stating what most likely everyone has noticed for well over a decade, but are somehow afraid of saying it out loud, scared of being seen as a troll. Really funny how it is in the fishing industry, people are afraid of saying what they think. They're not even consistent, tho. You simply pay attention to the epoxy applied on guides thread, and its worse than what's seen on sub $100 Chinese noname rods.

I've had those Ti-1's, they were good, but too similar to the Terminator t1's. Crazy how there's no pictures on the web of the smartwire one.

Have seen them, and the packaging does look kinda similar to what i remember it being, but they were in titanium, and these are in stainless. But those smartwire ones are interesting. I wonder how their packaging was, and how they look in color.

So here's the story. When i got into fishing at the very end of the 90s, i bought a black spinnerbait, which had a black skirt that was very stretchy compared to your standard skirts, had silver & blue flakes on the skirt, and both blades were in gold (one colorado and one willow). The wire was made out of titanium, and i am 85% certain that it was made by BlueFox, which, and correct me if i am wrong, made titatium spinnerbaits before Terminator? I remember the packaging being black with a bunch of fluorescent colors (yellows and oranges from what i recall) like many packages were in the 80s and 90s. So even though i bought this particular spinnerbait in around 2002, i believe that model was from the 90s. If Terminator was already making titanium spinnerbaits (it wasn't a Terminator T1 series) in the 90s, it is possible that it was made by Terminator as well, but a much higher chance it was Blue Fox. That thing was insanely good for murky water that's usually in my rivers, and i lost it in the early 2000s by lifting a 4-5lb smallie from a bridge. Almost yearly, on random occasions, i try to google search for this thing, but nothing, simply cannot find anything about it. At this point, i feel like finding it in an InFisherman magazine released in the 90s or early 2000s would have a higher chance of fiding this exact model than googling it😑 Does anyone know which model these could be?

Good idea.

So many SV103 lovers. I always thought that an og steez with brass gears from the og zillion destroyed the sv103, be it in smoothness, weight, palmability and looks.

What makes you think other rod companies aspire to be like them? Your last sentense is what i could tell you when you see my threads, so i hope you move on.🤦‍♂️ And there's a difference between simplicity (rods from Olympic Graphiteleader is a good example of simplicity, while also not looking like some ancient relic from the 90s), and rods that charge a super premium, and use.... recoil guides in 2025. Simplicity isn't an issue, what is an issue is them taking the cheapo rout.