skno Posted January 22, 2013 Posted January 22, 2013 Just curious! I am debating wheather I should change to Boca's or not. So for those of you who changed what did ya think. Reel= 1st gen revo STX All input is welcome. Quote
0119 Posted January 22, 2013 Posted January 22, 2013 Depended on the reel. On my 4500C's a slight difference in distance. On my Ambassadeur 2500c's, not distance increase. On the modern C3's a tremendous increase in casting distance. Its when I started experimenting with increasing the amount of bearings it gained smoothness. Quote
Super User .RM. Posted January 22, 2013 Super User Posted January 22, 2013 Yup mostly noise and the need to lubricate more often... Went back to Stainless Steel real quick, imo no need for anything else... Tight Lines All! 1 Quote
Super User Hi Salenity Posted January 22, 2013 Super User Posted January 22, 2013 Yes it makes a differance but its a suble one. I found only small improvements on my Core 50 throwing small baits but on my Lews TP I get a lot more distance throwing a jig with a lazy little sidearm cast. Quote
Super User webertime Posted January 22, 2013 Super User Posted January 22, 2013 About 80 more decibles! (RimShot!) Quote
Super User J Francho Posted January 22, 2013 Super User Posted January 22, 2013 About 80 more decibles! (RimShot!) http://www.hiyoooo.com/ 1 Quote
Super User Felix77 Posted January 22, 2013 Super User Posted January 22, 2013 It depends on the quality of the bearings on your reel. My friend gave me a reel he didn't want anymore. An inexpensive reel (less than $70). I switched out to Boca's and it was like upgrading from a beater car to a Ferrari. :-) by the way ... I switched them out because I was bored this winter and used the reel to learn how to break down and clean my other reels. Upgraded in the meantime just because. I am glad I did though. Now I have a spare reel which works very well. :-) Quote
Super User WRB Posted January 22, 2013 Super User Posted January 22, 2013 All bearings are not equal, so many counterfeit parts from China on the market. ABEC grade 7 ceramic or SST bearings or a true grade 9 (very expensive) will help, if the reel has been serviced properly. I changed out bearing on my older Daiwa 103HTSA's, very good casting reels to start with and it improved performance. The high end Ardents, Daiwa and Shimano's already have grade7's. with Garcia reels the issues are compounded when made in China....very, very few are made in Sweden anymore, you must be on the short list (top pro) to have them. I would change out the gears & bearings on the Garcia reels. Tom Quote
jhoffman Posted January 22, 2013 Posted January 22, 2013 I dont do it just to do it, I did it on one because I had a shot bearing. My newer reels are running factories for now. I suspect they could get a rookie into a world of mess fast. Yes, they spin like crazy with the right lube or none at all. A person needs to first learn propper mechanics or youll just end up crankn up the brakes and negate it. Quote
Super User *Hootie Posted January 22, 2013 Super User Posted January 22, 2013 I wondered the same thing myself, so I thought, don't ask, find out. So, I have 2 Chronarch 200E6's. I bought 1 set of boca ceramics, and 1 set of abec 7's SST. I flushed, lubed and installed them. Noticed no difference other than like .RM. and J. Francho said, the ceramics are a tad noisey. So, I took the stock bearings out of my Curado 50E, flushed, lubed and reinstalled them, and accomplished just as much without spending any more money. Just my 2 cents. Hootie 1 Quote
tbone1993 Posted January 22, 2013 Posted January 22, 2013 Once my reel gets old I will change out the bearings just to make sure the reel lasts longer. Besides that there is not point to change bearings on a high end reel. Diawa , Shimano , Abu , Lews etc spent hundreds of thousands of dollars developing their high end reels. If you think you can do better than their engineers be my guest. Also if I buy a $60 reel why would I want to spend the time and money to put in bearings and other stuff? Your better off buying a better reel. In your case since its an older model STX and probably well used I would replace the bearings if they are giving you trouble. 2 Quote
Super User LgMouthGambler Posted January 22, 2013 Super User Posted January 22, 2013 I have a set of Boca OS in my Curado50E. They are a tad on the noisey side. My friend thought my bearings were bad, lol. They are ok. For replacing shot factories yes, just to do it no. Quote
BradH Posted January 22, 2013 Posted January 22, 2013 I wondered the same thing myself, so I thought, don't ask, find out. So, I have 2 Chronarch 200E6's. I bought 1 set of boca ceramics, and 1 set of abec 7's SST. I flushed, lubed and installed them. Noticed no difference other than like .RM. and J. Francho said, the ceramics are a tad noisey. So, I took the stock bearings out of my Curado 50E, flushed, lubed and reinstalled them, and accomplished just as much without spending any more money.Just my 2 cents. Hootie I agree 100%. I've been replacing the factory bearings when they are shot with ABEC 5 or 7 SS shielded bearings. I've got a couple with ceramic but there is no performance advantage that I can tell and they just cost more. If the factory bearings are still good I just clean out the excess lube and add a single drop of oil. That seems to be the best bang for the buck. Quote
Super User new2BC4bass Posted January 22, 2013 Super User Posted January 22, 2013 Once my reel gets old I will change out the bearings just to make sure the reel lasts longer. Besides that there is not point to change bearings on a high end reel. Diawa , Shimano , Abu , Lews etc spent hundreds of thousands of dollars developing their high end reels. If you think you can do better than their engineers be my guest. Also if I buy a $60 reel why would I want to spend the time and money to put in bearings and other stuff? Your better off buying a better reel. In your case since its an older model STX and probably well used I would replace the bearings if they are giving you trouble. I don't know how high end factory reel bearings compare to the best after market bearings. I will say that manufacturers are in business to make money. I would venture to guess that most try to walk a fine line between supplying their products with just enough quality to satisfy the majority of their customers without spending any more than absolutely necessary to accomplish that goal. No doubt the high end reels have better bearings than the entry level reels, but are they the best available? I don't know, but by your way of reasoning there would be no need to ever "upgrade" to Carbontex drag washers in the better reels. I know for a fact people do....including yours truly. I will agree with you that there is no need to change bearings (or drag washers) if you are satisfied with a reel's performance. I am perfectly happy with both in my STX. However, I upgraded both on the first B/C reel I bought...a Daiwa Fuego. I do have a stock Fuego to compare it to, but have not done so yet. Far as I can tell the stock is as smooth as the Carbontex...just with not quite as much drag pressure. Quote
OnthePotomac Posted January 22, 2013 Posted January 22, 2013 Shimano says they do not rate their bearings, but Bantam1, their rep says they are ABEC 3. I have experimented with Shimano factory bearings and have found some spin like crazy and some do not spin so well, just OK. If I replace them it is with quality SS ABEC7's. I got tired of the heavy maintenance on the ceramics. Quote
skno Posted January 22, 2013 Author Posted January 22, 2013 Thank You All , And feel free to add any input or opinions. With the cold weather I am getting ready to clean my reels up for spring. The revo does have alot of miles on it, but its still smooth and been fairly well maintained.(and a very good reel) With the great advice given If they dont need replaced they wont be. And if Im not happy with them after cleaning, it sounds like abec 7-9 ss is the way Ill go. Thanks again and http://www.hiyoooo.com/ Quote
0119 Posted January 22, 2013 Posted January 22, 2013 Since a ceramic doesn't need to even be lubed according to boca, what is the extra maintenance? None of the ceramics in my reels are noisey but they are the hybrids not the orange seals. I made sure the proprietary dry lube boca applies at there shop was removed, which you can get upon request as it doesn't jive with a wet lube. Even with rocket fuel theyve never made noise or required crazy maintenance. Quote
War Eagle 44 Posted January 23, 2013 Posted January 23, 2013 I just bought my first set of Boca Orange Seals about a month ago. I, like many others here, only purchased them because one of the factory bearings rusted. I removed the orange seals and cleaned them the same way I do my stock bearings. I left the seals off, added one drop of Shimano oil to each and dropped them in. To tell the truth I can't really tell that much difference over the cleaned stock Shimano bearings. As was mentioned earlier Shimano reels don't have ABEC 7's from the factory, Bantam1 said most are ABEC 3 class with the Calais DC having greaseless ABEC 5's. I've found that the shielded SS bearings that come in most of their reels are very good bearings if properly cleaned. Some take more time and effort to get completely clean than others but I've not come across one yet that won't spin like crazy if worked on long enough. I know most guys don't want to do these things but I just love everything about the "hobby" so I like to spend my time playing and tinkering with my gear. I heard so many stories about just how much improvement the Orange Seal's made in their reels so I guess it's possible I was expecting to much from the start. I'm not trying to bad mouth Boca in ANY way, the bearings I have from them are perfect and spin freely. I just don't think I would upgrade just to be doing it, Shimano stock bearings perform very very well when cleaned so I'm assuming so will Garcia's. 1 Quote
OnthePotomac Posted January 23, 2013 Posted January 23, 2013 My reference to the maintenance on ceramics is the frequent reoiling to keep them smooth and quiet. I use Oust Met Oil in my ceramics and only use Yellow Rocket Fuel in metal bearings. I found that YRF in ceramics will slow them down. With no lube ceramics are very fast, but extended use with no lube will degrade the race in time and they really make a racket with no lube. To each his own. Quote
Super User J Francho Posted January 23, 2013 Super User Posted January 23, 2013 Oust is very good stuff, but very light, and needs frequent applications. Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted January 23, 2013 Super User Posted January 23, 2013 I had both a Curado 50E and 200E7 supertuned by DVT last year. Even though these are nearly brand new reels, the performance was enhanced. However, I think he put the ceramic bearings in dry and the noise drove me crazy! I have added a drop of oil which may have reduced optimal performance, but it's still great and now the reels are... Smooth, strong, silent and reliant. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted January 23, 2013 Super User Posted January 23, 2013 I had both a Curado 50E7 and 100E7 supertuned by DVT last year. Hey RW - as the leader of the posse - do you get models that the rest of us can't get? 50E7 and 100E7? Should that be 50E and 200E7...or does that mean you converted a 50E to 7:1 gears and converted a Chronarch 100 to a Curado or.... Slow down that typing big guy.... Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted January 23, 2013 Super User Posted January 23, 2013 Oops! Corrected: 50E and 200E7 Quote
Super User QUAKEnSHAKE Posted January 24, 2013 Super User Posted January 24, 2013 Just curious! I am debating wheather I should change to Boca's or not. So for those of you who changed what did ya think. Reel= 1st gen revo STX All input is welcome. Here a test comparision on the Boca site http://bocabearings.com/dropin.aspx?f=Do-BOCA-BEARINGS-really-make-a-difference.txt&utm_source=BB_site&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=BB_make_difference Quote
Super User Hi Salenity Posted January 24, 2013 Super User Posted January 24, 2013 I wonder if the 12 year old stock bearings were ever flushed? 1 Quote
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