Reel bearings

[Topwaterdude]

I was wondering how many of you guys upgrade your reel bearings?

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

The first step should be to flush and lightly oil the stock bearings. If you'd like, email me with the make and model and what you'd like to accomplish and I'll make a recommendation. 

[Oregon Native]

Guess I'm old school....never had.  Have used Shimano for most of my life and with light cleanings have treated me very well.  Am trying Kast King now and (due to cost and word of mouth) and so far am very pleased.

[tholmes]

I've never replaced a bearing in a reel unless the old one was faulty. From my (limited) engineering knowledge, I cannot imagine a fishing reel needing an ABEC 5 or ABEC 7 bearing. If your reel spins at 100K rpm, you might benefit from high$ bearings, otherwise, they're just not necessary, IMHO.

 

Tom

[rippin-lips]

They’re are not required but it’s your money and you can spend it however you’d like. I’ve noticed minimal performance gain but certain bearings do make it easier to achieve the same distance with less effort. The gain you get for the money isn’t exactly cost effective but I enjoy tinkering and therefore I install Zpi Sic or YT Fusion HD+ bearings in all of my reels. 

[Topwaterdude]

I've seen a few you tube videos on it just peaked my interest .

[The Bassman]

Those *** bushings that caused so much debate earlier this year made me want to try them. Put a pair in my Chronarch MGL and I have to admit they beat anything I've ever tried.  Quiet too. Don't know about durability yet.

[BobP]

I’ve “upgraded” stock reel bearings to ABEC 7’s, just because the 7’s were available at a good price.  Couldn’t discern any difference whatsoever.  I can see and feel a difference with ceramic bearings but was it really something that increased my fishing performance or enjoyment?  No.  We guys like to tinker around with stuff and hotrod mechanical things.  No harm, no foul but in this case it’s mostly for emotional rather than practical reasons.

[WRB]

What do you think a baitcasting reel spool bearing RPM's are?

There isn't any difference between the same brand ABEC 5 and 7 bearing other then millionth in tolerance that is undetected at the rpm's the spool spins. Good quality ABEC 3 is a upgrade from factory bearings if the reel is cleaned and lubricated properly.

Tom

[CrankFate]

I add them. They absolutely make a difference with start up inertia and distance. They don’t slow down as fast, though so it takes a little getting used to. That said, I do not believe the internet videos that go from 10 seconds of freespool to 2 or 3 minutes of freespool. I have never seen that type of freespool increase. You’re lucky if you get to a full minute just by switching the bearings. And I only have bearings that I bought direct from the manufacturer, so I know I didn’t get robbed with bootlegs.

 

The main reason I use them is that after about 10 casts most reels slow down dramatically because the oil gets thrown off and water gets in. Ceramic bearings will continue to cast without losing much distance once the oil is thrown and replaced with water.

[WRB]

What reel oil is water soluble? Water doesn't displace oil. The tighter the bearing clearances are the more difficult it is for oil to penetrate into the bearing surfaces requiring very low viscosity reel oil with additives to reduce friction.

Reels shouldn't have water inside the bearings unless the reel was submerged in water.

Tests that show spools spinning freely are usually without line or spool tension/braking therefore meaningless.

What is spool bearing RPM? ABEC bearings are rated by tolerance deviation and Max rpm's. If I told you the spool shaft rpm's is under 4,000 rpm would you believe it? Precision bearings are used in extremely high rpm applications; 10,000 to 30,000 rpm.

Tom

[FishTank]

I have purchased them when I had one go out on my Shimano Core 101 and one on a Chronarch 51e.  I tried flushing the original but no luck. I went with ABEC 5 Ceramics for the Core and ABEC 7 Ceramics with the orange seal for the Chronarch.  They are supposed to run dry but I found both do well with a tiny amount of oil.  Also, they seemed to get better after a few hours of use.  Overall though, they were only, IMHO, a slight improvement over the stock bearings when they were new but definitely better than the 11 year old bearings that were in the reels.  The ABEC 5's did improve flipping and pitching and overall casting distance in the Core. 

 

Would I recommend them, maybe.  It depends on the reel, how you use it and probably a dozen other things but I would not take the bearings out a new quality reel and replace them with new ceramic bearings.