Lews Custom Lite SLP?

[kirkkoh]

i just ordered a lews custom lite slp and a falcon bucoo sr for my flipping/ tx rig setup. its been out for 2-3 years now. why isnt there many reviews online about this reel? not many youtube videos on it either. its messing with my brain because its a higher end lews thats only 4.9 oz so i dont see why theres not tons of youtube videos /reviews on it. anyone have one and can share their experiences? im a shimano/daiwa guy but if i like this reel the hypermag seems like a good reel i may try to get one day.

[Phil77]

The black one or the silver one? They are both great reels. The black one is plastic or as they market it Tanso, I've caught hundreds of bass with mine with no problems. I have it dedicated to a 7ML rod for shakey heads. The silver one is aluminum framed and I use it for t-rigs only. They both palm very well for all day comfort and have a great braking system. I deep clean mine once a year and since I fish almost daily ten months of the year I have to oil the brake ring once a week.

[kirkkoh]

2 hours ago, Phil77 said:

The black one or the silver one? They are both great reels. The black one is plastic or as they market it Tanso, I've caught hundreds of bass with mine with no problems. I have it dedicated to a 7ML rod for shakey heads. The silver one is aluminum framed and I use it for t-rigs only. They both palm very well for all day comfort and have a great braking system. I deep clean mine once a year and since I fish almost daily ten months of the year I have to oil the brake ring once a week.

The black one. the silver one is the lews tournament lite. i actually meant to order the tournament lite (silver one) but ordered the custom lite (black one) by mistake but i think im gonna be happy with it. The custom lite may seem like plastic but thats mainly due to the sophisticated process used to make the frame of the lews custom lite. To the average person im sure it looks and feels like normal ole plastic. anyways is there a reason you dedicated it to your shakeyhead setup? and whats your thoughts so far compared to other reels in that price range? 

[Catt]

I have Lew's Team Lite, Lew's has replaced it with Tournament Lite.

 

I don't see any advantage to pick the Custom Lite over the Tournament Lite. 

[badfish79]

Tournament Lite is an LFS frame, Custom Lite is SLP frame. I guess its a matter of ergonomics preference.

[dodgeguy]

Custom Lite is a high tech carbon frame not plastic. It's supposed to be hard and require machining light metal.i have one and I love it.the only thing I don't like is the knot has to be centered perfectly or the line will stack to one side . It's worse with braid. It's absolutely fine with flouro or mono. It casts awesome with no backlash and. It's so light it's a pleasure to use all day. I plan on buying another.

[Tatulatard]

Its absolutely plastic with finely ground carbon mixed in.  Tanso is likely the brand of the material used.  It is molded like any other similar reel.  Graphite is another term used for these reel although like "carbon fiber fishing reels" they are plastic mixed with graphite/carbon.  Nothing wrong with this.  Shimano does it and its ok with the chronarch.  At least they tell us it's "Tanso" instead of whatever ci4+ is supposed to be.  We clamp our reels into reel seats made from the same stuff.  Think of it as a reel made from reel seat.  

[Phil77]

I don't really care if it's plastic or not, it's the best reel I own. I dedicated mine to shakey heads because it palms so well and that allows me to feel them breathe on it. I have almost every reel Lew's makes and its a tie between this one and the hypermag. I wish they offered both in a 6GR but am happy with them. I didn't mean to imply it was any less of a reel because it's made from whatever Tanso is, I would buy another Tanso reel with no hesitation. Forgot to mention in my first post is the knobs, they are probably just eva but they are much more comfortable that the Winn grips, my silver lite has cork knobs which would be great if they put them on a new model.

[dodgeguy]

1 minute ago, Phil77 said:

I don't really care if it's plastic or not, it's the best reel I own. I dedicated mine to shakey heads because it palms so well and that allows me to feel them breathe on it. I have almost every reel Lew's makes and its a tie between this one and the hypermag. I wish they offered both in a 6GR but am happy with them. I didn't mean to imply it was any less of a reel because it's made from whatever Tanso is, I would buy another Tanso reel with no hesitation. Forgot to mention in my first post is the knobs, they are probably just eva but they are much more comfortable that the Winn grips, my silver lite has cork knobs which would be great if they put them on a new model.

Agree totally. I just get upset when people refer to it as plastic. I was once a big opponent of composite frames but this one seems to do it right. Plastic just sounds so cheap when talking about a high tech composite. Good luck with yours . I would definitely buy another.

[Phil77]

6 minutes ago, dodgeguy said:

Agree totally. I just get upset when people refer to it as plastic. I was once a big opponent of composite frames but this one seems to do it right. Plastic just sounds so cheap when talking about a high tech composite. Good luck with yours . I would definitely buy another.

I was definitely skeptical when I first found out it wasn't aluminum but after holding it I had to have it. People crap on Lew's quite a bit but I've caught hundreds of bass with mine without any problems so I could care less what other people say about them. Anybody got one of the new TI's yet? That's another one I've got to have.

[Catt]

Plastic huh?

 

Tanso Carbon Fiber uses highest quality 2x2 carbon fiber and cured in the autoclave at high temperatures, ensuring quality, durability, and extremely-high strength-to-weight ratios. Fade-Resistant Clear Coat.

 

[Tatulatard]

8 hours ago, Catt said:

Plastic huh?

 

Tanso Carbon Fiber uses highest quality 2x2 carbon fiber and cured in the autoclave at high temperatures, ensuring quality, durability, and extremely-high strength-to-weight ratios. Fade-Resistant Clear Coat.

 

Yes.  Its plastic with carbon mixed in.  This is not a bad thing. 

[Catt]

23 minutes ago, Tatulatard said:

Yes.  Its plastic with carbon mixed in.  This is not a bad thing. 

 

17 years in the Aerospace Industry as a Manufacturing Engineer.

 

It ain't plastic

 

About 90% of the carbon fibers produced are made from polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The remaining 10% are made from rayon or petroleum pitch. 

[Tatulatard]

18 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

17 years in the Aerospace Industry as a Manufacturing Engineer.

 

It ain't plastic

 

About 90% of the carbon fibers produced are made from polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The remaining 10% are made from rayon or petroleum pitch. 

It is very simple to differentiate between carbon fiber and plastic with carbon powder mixed in.  No one even remotely familiar with carbon fiber can confuse the two.  Are you suggesting the reel is made from sheets of carbon fiber as opposed to injection molded?  "Carbon fiber" fishing reels are made from a polymer with ground carbon/graphite mixed in.  Its plastic with powder mixed in as we see here with Onyx.  Explain to me how Tanso is different from Onyx shown here?  Its clearly spelled out that polymers with short strand carbon powder primarily behave like the base polymer. 

 

[Tatulatard]

Also "tanso" is a company with many carbon products including a short stand carbon powder.  I suspect this is the "tanso" in lews reels.  They are using carbon from tanso in polymer used to make the reels.  This is likely done for name recognition.  At least they specify the carbon supplier instead of it being mystery plastic like zaion and ci4+.  

 

I belive the industry term is carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP).  Companies using this material love to drop the plastic off the end and use the phrase "carbon fiber" which conjures images of fighter plane wings and racing parts as if to imply that your fishing reel is made from the same stuff.  Its not.  It's plastic with carbon in it.

[Phil77]

Man, I guess I'll have to break out my periodic table before I call a reel not made out of metal plastic again. Just for the record I don't care if it's made from burnt turds and rabbit fur, it's an excellent reel that is seriously under appreciated. 

[dodgeguy]

10 minutes ago, Phil77 said:

Man, I guess I'll have to break out my periodic table before I call a reel not made out of metal plastic again. Just for the record I don't care if it's made from burnt turds and rabbit fur, it's an excellent reel that is seriously under appreciated. 

LOL!!!! Burnt turds and rabbit fur !!!! The Diawa Shimano guys are gonna start using that !!!!

[kirkkoh]

On 12/1/2022 at 2:31 PM, dodgeguy said:

LOL!!!! Burnt turds and rabbit fur !!!! The Diawa Shimano guys are gonna start using that !!!!

i got to use it for the first time and initially i was upset. it was very "geary" so i was like maybe it came dry, ill give lews the benefit of the doubt. so i oiled it and its still "geary". none the less, its a pretty good reel. its just the retrieve isnt silky smooth like my daiwa and shimano's... overall i like it.

[Catt]

 

Carbon Fiber is a polymer & is sometimes known as graphite fiber. 

 

Not all carbon fiber composites are made by reinforcing plastic. 

[dodgeguy]

13 hours ago, kirkkoh said:

i got to use it for the first time and initially i was upset. it was very "geary" so i was like maybe it came dry, ill give lews the benefit of the doubt. so i oiled it and its still "geary". none the less, its a pretty good reel. its just the retrieve isnt silky smooth like my daiwa and shimano's... overall i like it.

The Geary you will get on any magnesium or carbon fiber frame reel. Mine was a little Geary at first but has gotten smoother. With time. I had a abu mgx that got reel Geary after a season but this is a billion times better.i also use Teflon lube.

[Catt]

Guess I'll have to find me a carbon fiber rod to go with my carbon fiber reel.

[Tatulatard]

On 12/6/2022 at 5:30 AM, Catt said:

Not all carbon fiber composites are made by reinforcing plastic

But it is precisely how your "carbon fiber" or "graphite" fishing reels are made.  

[kirkkoh]

On 12/6/2022 at 5:13 PM, dodgeguy said:

The Geary you will get on any magnesium or carbon fiber frame reel. Mine was a little Geary at first but has gotten smoother. With time. I had a abu mgx that got reel Geary after a season but this is a billion times better.i also use Teflon lube.

Good to know! thank you. all of mine previously were aluminum frame.