Hawgtech Bearings Upgrade (Chronarch 50E)

[Darren.]

Received two sets of Hawgtech ABEC 7 bearings I 

ordered earlier in the week! 

 

They're for my two Chronarch 50e reels. I got right to

work upgrading and testing.

 

What a difference they make. Just wow. Much noisier, 

but that doesn't bother me. Installed as-received, dry,

no oil.

 

Both reels are spooled with 20 lb yellow Power Pro + leader.

 

Rod 1:

 - 6'6" Carbonlite, ML/F

 - 4 red/pink brakes engaged

 - Leader is 8 lb Yo-Zuri Hybrid

 - 1/0 Gammy Split/Drop hook + weedguard

 - 4.75" Zoom Finesse worm rigged wacky

 - Longest cast so far: 50 feet

 - Longest pitch so far: 27 feet

 

I experimented going down to 3, and 2 brakes engaged, 

but this will be something I need to work on. Had to dig 

out a couple birds nests. Slowed my cast down, but was 

most comfortable and consistent with 4 breaks on.

 

Rod 2:

 - 6' Field & Stream M/F

 - Leader is 10 lb XPS Fluoro

 - 3 green (off) and 3 Red brakes - 2 engaged

 - Norman Lures speedclip - small one

 - 3" storm swimbait, hook clipped off

 - Did not measure casts, but the difference is significant

from stock bearings.

 

[F14A-B]

Sweet, those are good bearings. 50' pretty good for that worm & hook combo!

[Darren.]

Sweet, those are good bearings. 50' pretty good for that worm & hook combo!

 

Thanks. My goal has been to cast *almost* as light

as I can with spinning gear. This brings me a step 

closer. I was able to do so with standard bearings,

but I think my furthest cast was 35-40 feet. Still good,

but this is even better

 

Next would be a new spool from Hedgehog Studios.

Something like this:

 

http://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/1005

 

But that ain't gonna happen any time soon, LOL.

[Mumbly]

I like this thread as I have been tossing around the idea of upgrading the stock bearings in my Curado 50e for about a year now.

 

I am curious if you or anyone else might know if there is a difference between the bearings offered by Hawgtech vs. the ones from Boca (other than price)?

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

I chose Boca as my supplier due to their ability and willingness to back up the product. even as a Boca dealer in all honesty, the advantage of upgrading bearings is much less when compared to a properly cleaned or tuned reel. In order of bang for your buck my recommendation:

Deep cleaning with bearing flush

Carbontex drag

Super tuning

ABEC5 ceramic hybrid spool bearings

Level wind upgrades in Ambassaduers

Aftermarket spools handles etc

[Darren.]

I chose Boca as my supplier due to their ability and willingness to back up the product. even as a Boca dealer in all honesty, the advantage of upgrading bearings is much less when compared to a properly cleaned or tuned reel. In order of bang for your buck my recommendation:

Deep cleaning with bearing flush

Carbontex drag

Super tuning

ABEC5 ceramic hybrid spool bearings

Level wind upgrades in Ambassaduers

Aftermarket spools handles etc

 

All I can attest to is my experience upgrading

the bearings. Was the least expensive route 

for me, and in my humble experience, the 

difference is *very* noticeable. 

 

I would love to have a complete deep clean, 

carbontex drag, and so on. Eventually I will

probably send my reels to you for that

[new2BC4bass]

I have a "deep cleaned" stock Curado 51E done by Mike.  I also have a supertuned Curado 51E with upgraded bearings and drag done by Mike.  They aren't on identical rods (one is a 6'10" MF Smallmouth, the other a 7' MF Prodigy).  Both have 8# mono, one Big Game, one Siege.  I am not the expert many are so please take this for what it is worth.....not a lot.    Both reels are very nice.  The tuned one is on the longer rod.  I get a little more distance, but not a lot.  I can lower the brakes from 2 to 1 on the tuned reel as long as I don't get careless, but prefer to leave both at 2 because I run into less trouble that way.  The amount of brakes used tells you right away that I am not as proficient as most with a b/c reel.  I do run spool tension pretty loose on all my reels.  I'd rather run more brakes with less spool tension than the reverse method.

 

However, I can't really comment on how these reels performed stock.  The deep cleaning was done before ever using the reel (bought new).  The supertuned one (bought used) had a problem with the side cover not coming off, so although I did make a few casts with it before sending to Mike, I didn't concentrate on getting maximum distance before sending it out for repair.

 

It has been mentioned many times before that a new reel should be thoroughly cleaned and relubed as factory reels may be dry or over-lubed....both scenarios hurting casting distance.  Darren, how did your reel look when you opened it up?

 

Also the little extra noise from upgraded bearings doesn't bother me either.  In fact it can be helpful in determining spool speed....which is helpful in eliminating overruns.

 

Having read that supertuning on Shimano reels can make a big difference, I was a bit surprised I didn't notice any more improvement than I did.  Most likely this is due to my limited experience.  I should also mention that the supertuning was done this year, and I haven't used the reel nearly enough yet to establish how much better it really is.  I just know that both are a pleasure to use.  I did receive 3-4 more reels after the tuning which kept me from using it as much as I normally would have since I also had to play with the new reels. 

[Darren.]

It has been mentioned many times before that a new reel should be thoroughly cleaned and relubed as factory reels may be dry or over-lubed....both scenarios hurting casting distance.  Darren, how did your reel look when you opened it up?

 

I did not go inside the gears for any super cleaning.

 

I merely cleaned the surface, inside the spool areas,

the bearings, etc.

 

Out of the box, both of my 50es were spotless and 

super smooth and quiet. Never had them in saltwater 

and, to my knowledge, never dunked them. 

 

Spent a lot of time (pre-ABEC7) tuning them so I could

cast light baits w/o *needing* spinning gear with me.

 

After the bearings, these things are absolutely amazing.

 

I'm really shocked at how smoothly and effortlessly 

they cast. For fun I had a 1/32 oz shad head jig with a

2" tiny shad (crappie bait) on it. So hardly much over 

1/32 oz. I was able to cast it about 25 feet on the 

water. Not bad. If I had an L action, I'd have casted

further.

 

So yeah, for me there was a big difference from stock.