Lew' Over Shimano

[Sam]

I took my Pflueger PresidentWLP baitcaster to the gentleman in Powhatan County who services rods and reels and I asked him what is the best reel in the marketplace today.

 

Without a second thought, he replied, "Lew's."

 

I asked him why and he said that Shimano, his favorite for years, has stopped carrying parts for their reels, making servicing and repairs very difficult.  In fact, he had to actually grind down a nut to fit a Shimano when Shimano told him they no longer carry the special nut and he found some Curado star drags that he is keeping for future use as Shimano no longer carries them.

 

He loved the old Curado's but he said times have changed at Shimano and getting parts is very difficult.

 

He went on to say that Lew's is easy to deal with and has all the parts needed to keep his client's Lew's reels in top condition.

 

He also likes the way the Lew's reels are constructed and their performance is outstanding.

 

So if you have a Shimano reel and it needs parts you may not be able to find them unless you purchase a duplicate reel on the Internet and steal parts off of it.

 

Anyone out there have any problems obtaining reel parts from Shimano? If so, let us know what happened.

[Mobasser]

Interesting Sam. I haven't had to have any of my Shimano reels serviced for a while. If people are aware of this it could hurt Shimano sales. I've always liked them, casting and spinning, but it might be time to go with Lews or Diawa in the future.

[PatrickKnight]

The only time I have ever had issues with parts is on older long discontinued models. I know Shimano stops making parts for a reel 5 years after they stop selling it. For my money Daiwa is at the top as of right now. Lews are decent reels in the lower price points but imo once you get over $150 MSRP they run out of steam. Keep in mind Lews, BPS, and Abu are basically the same reels made by the same company. As far as I know Daiwa and Shimano are the only two companies currently making there own reels.

[OnthePotomac]

I won't knock Lews because I have never owned one, but that is an interesting story on Shimano parts I have never heard before.  I have had Shimano reels for 18 years now and the only "parts" I have ever needed for older models are the tiny screws holding the handle cover on and they were sent using the part number for the respective model (Curado 100B in this case) and at no charge.  I have also liked that many Shimano parts have been interchangeable on their other models.  And yes, I have often heard of the 5 year parts availability after the model is discontinued. I hope DWT will comment on this.

[MassYak85]

I easily ordered some spare parts for my Cardiff 300 a couple years ago....but I looked on their website and they have broken the link for their online parts ordering. You may still be able to do it by phone I haven't tried, but if this is true that you can't get any parts anymore I surely will not be buying their reels going forward. 

 

 

Also interesting to note, all the reels I clicked on on their site had the reel manuals removed when you clicked the link. 

 

This is actually pretty disappointing because their online parts shop was in my opinion, THE best in the industry and very easy to deal with. You just open the schematic, find the parts number, and then press add to cart. Boom, done. No calling a help hotline, no waiting for emails. I'll reserve final judgement until someone who has had a more recent experience chimes in but overall a dumb move by Shimano if it's all true and not just them updating stuff temporarily. 

 

 

On the topic of Lew's though. My one experience with their customer service department was fantastic and they gave me the parts I needed, plus more, and two day shipped them at no cost to me (and the issue I was having was 100% my own fault not on them). They aren't my favorite reels to fish but no complaints against the company itself. 

 

[Log Catcher]

If all of this is true it looks like Shimano is doing everything they can to lose business. I guess they want everybody to buy new instead of fixing the older reels.

[Darren.]

I was looking for some bail parts for one of my Stradic FIs

and they're no longer carried. Plus the recent changes to

their website made it a headache to find their parts.

 

Doubt I'll change out my Stradics any time soon, though,

unless they break down and parts are no longer available.

[MassYak85]

Okay so doing a little more digging even though the link is broken in some parts of the website, if you go to their "fishshop" (https://fishshop.shimano.com/), you can get their parts under the "parts" tab. Although it looks like most of the reels in that shop are the newer ones, they might be scaling back on holding parts for older models (sounds like that is the case with the guy in the OP, maybe trying to get parts for older curados). 

[Darren.]

7 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

Okay so doing a little more digging even though the link is broken in some parts of the website, if you go to their "fishshop" (https://fishshop.shimano.com/), you can get their parts under the "parts" tab. Although it looks like most of the reels in that shop are the newer ones, they might be scaling back on holding parts for older models (sounds like that is the case with the guy in the OP, maybe trying to get parts for older curados). 

Yes, I was going to post that link. In another thread that 

was given to me as I couldn't find it after their site redesign.

[grub_man]

Shimano built reels on the same frame out of virtually identical parts for about 20 years in the 90's and 2k's.  It made taking care of those models very easy, because the same parts were used over and over.  But when Shimano changed to the seasonal redesign model, things were bound to change.  It makes the ability to keep replacement parts for the long term nearly impossible.  It's a consequence of rapid release cycle with planned obsolescence.  It works well in the tech, automotive, and other industries, and it's finally making its way to Shimano.  Keeping reels in service for 30+ years just doesn't spur growth in product sales, and let's face it, companies are judged based on growth.  A company that that is just big enough to pay its bills and keep its employees and customers happy isn't deemed successful.

 

I'll be keeping my old Shimanos going for as long as I can, but their pricing structure has moved my preferred models out of my budget, so as I look to expand and replace reels, I'll be looking across a larger spectrum of brands and models. My brand loyalty in casting reels is likely coming to an end.

 

There aren't many spinning reels that I've used over the years that I disliked, but casting reels were always a whole other issue for me.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

If Lews is the best constructed reel so is the revo, pflueger, PQ and others. It's easy to keep parts available when they fit 4+ brands and the basic platform is unchanged. The Shimano parts issue is for real. 

[greentrout]

 

Them were the days...Curado for 110.00 U.S. dollars...a tank...

[Darren.]

57 minutes ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

If Lews is the best constructed reel so is the revo, pflueger, PQ and others. It's easy to keep parts available when they fit 4+ brands and the basic platform is unchanged. The Shimano parts issue is for real. 

What is the likelihood of repairing a Stradic 1000 FI that

has a bail which sticks and is worn down, doesn't close 

well, etc. I imagine you'd need to take a look at it first....

[grub_man]

45 minutes ago, greentrout said:

Them were the days...Curado for 110.00 U.S. dollars...a tank...

The standard by which all reels should be measured!  Not absurdly heavy, smooth, and reliable.  Set the spool tension just tight enough to remove side to side play, turn 2 brakes on and go to work.

 

I'm really partial to the smaller 100b and the Citica 100dsv built on the Curado 100b platform.

[Maico1]

And the Bantam MGL is the next generation tank.....

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

3 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

 

 

 You just open the schematic, find the parts number, and then press add to cart. Boom, done. No calling a help hotline, no waiting for emails.  

 

 

 

Still the way its done

https://fishshop.shimano.com/pages/low-profile

Pick a reel

pick the schematic

pick a part

order it

[MassYak85]

1 minute ago, QUAKEnSHAKE said:

Still the way its done

https://fishshop.shimano.com/pages/low-profile

Pick a reel

pick the schematic

pick a part

order it

Yea I found it in my last post, I guess they re-did their site recently some of their links are broken. 

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Can a person post/link where LEWS reel parts are this easy to order online???

 

 

[Bass Turd]

25 minutes ago, QUAKEnSHAKE said:

Still the way its done

https://fishshop.shimano.com/pages/low-profile

Pick a reel

pick the schematic

pick a part

order it

Yes but they are all newer models. Six months ago they still listed everything from D's on up. I ordered a bunch of parts to keep my D's going. But no more....

[Darren.]

^^^This. No older models. Stradic FIs gone. I had priced

out what I wanted late last year. Gone.

[The Bassman]

4 hours ago, Darren. said:

I was looking for some bail parts for one of my Stradic FIs

and they're no longer carried. Plus the recent changes to

their website made it a headache to find their parts.

 

Doubt I'll change out my Stradics any time soon, though,

unless they break down and parts are no longer available.

I agree. The numbers are out of sequence. I just look for the part name then apply the #.  Makes no sense.

[d-camarena]

Its business, they cant be living off old parts. Gotta make new reels and sell parts for newer reels so people can buy these new reels. I know some of us might not like it but in every business you gotta make money. Why sell somebody a $5 reel part when you can sell them a $150 reel?

[Jrob78]

Eh...availability of parts doesn't have anything to do with who makes the best reels.

[kickerfish1]

You can probably tell your friend to shove it. I don't know anyone that wouldn't take a mid to high end Daiwa or Shimano over anything Lews has to offer. I have zero issues finding parts for any of my Shimano or Daiwa reels. Sure when anything is discontinued it will be tougher to source parts. I sold off my Lews reels two years ago and have had zero desire to buy or recommend one again.

 

Your "reel guy" is entitled to his opinion like anyone else...

[Graham]

@Sam thanks for the topic, definitely something to consider when deciding to buy older used shimanos. This reel guy in Powhatan, is he someone you can share his info with me?