Do you still replace your spool bearings to ceramic hybrids?

[ABU is overpriced]

Few years back, this used to be pretty popular, but not hearing many people swapping bearings nowadays. Personally, i do swap em to KTF, ZPI or Hedgehog bearings. I don't feel like its needed on the mid range and above, but already have a bunch of ceramic hybrids that i've collected over the years, so why not.

[Jig Man]

I used to super tune my Curados and put ceramic bearings in them until Shimano came out with the E series.  They didn’t need anything so I quit and haven’t done it since.

[J Francho]

The only reels that I own that have ceramics are ones I use in sub freezing temps, and they are run dry. There was nothing wrong with the stock bearing that were replaced and I don't feel there was much if any gains. These reels are round baitcasters used for drift fishing in current for salmonoids. 

[FrnkNsteen]

The only reel I have replaced original bearings with aftermarket is a Tatula CT Type R that I fell on and did some damage.

 

Had to replace the AR bearing and sleeve, so while ordering the parts for that, I decided to also splurge and put a set of Hedgehog bearings in.

 

They were smooth, but in my opinion,... I wouldn't say they gained me any casting distance. I WILL say that the smoothness was noticeable and made pitching or casting take less effort. Just didn't feel like it was enough of a difference to warrant the cost

[GRiver]

I replace them with stainless, not ceramic, when needed.

A good abec 5 or 7,  and I grease them. I know it’s kinda fighting against me, but I like a smooth consistency casting reel. I really don’t bomb one out there. And easy and accurate cast is more important to me. A lot of reels have unrated bearings from the factory. 

[MediumMouthBass]

Are we supposed to be swapping bearings? I keep hearing guys talking about it, but on modern day reels from $100-150 MSRP would they even do anything different to justify the cost? Or is this just switching them out for the sake of it because some guys love to go all in on their reels.

[F14A-B]

5 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Few years back, this used to be pretty popular, but not hearing many people swapping bearings nowadays. Personally, i do swap em to KTF, ZPI or Hedgehog bearings. I don't feel like its needed on the mid range and above, but already have a bunch of ceramic hybrids that i've collected over the years, so why not.

Since you have so many I’ll take two sets for my Daiwa Zillions 1000 HD please. 
 

Ok I’m joking but I did ask about this maybe a week ago. But these reels are amazing pitching and casting reels, I see no point in doing a swap, but who knows 🤷

[FishTank]

Sometimes.  It just depends on the reel. The stock bearings may be the best option.  It also depends on what you want to get out of it. If you want short accurate casts, fast bearings may not be the answer. If you are new to casting a baitcaster,  ceramic bearings aren't going to make you better. What I have seen over the years is people will not take care of their reels, they need new bearings and they then turn to ceramics because of the hype and spool spin videos.  So in the end, you have to decide what's right for your application and your reel.

 

Oddly, I have never had a ceramic bearing go bad. As long as they are clean,  they get better over time. Also, I have found that the part bearings, from say Shimano and Daiwa,  are better than what comes in the reel when new. Can't explain it but what I have ordered has been better. Maybe it has to do with how they are stored. 

[ABU is overpriced]

3 hours ago, F14A-B said:

Since you have so many I’ll take two sets for my Daiwa Zillions 1000 HD please. 
 

Ok I’m joking but I did ask about this maybe a week ago. But these reels are amazing pitching and casting reels, I see no point in doing a swap, but who knows 🤷

Literally have over 20 bearings from the three companies mentioned in the OP that i am not using because i don't have enough reels for them, but its good to know that as soon as i grab a reel, i can install higher quality bearings, even if the originals are already good. And those Japanese ceramics are pretty silent compared to crap Bocas and Aliexpress ones, so you really ain't gettings any downsides from swapping.

But there is one reason i could thing off when upgrading to ceramic hybrids might be worth it to some. You really don't need to lube them, so if you're lazy and don't want to oil standard metal bearings, ceramics are a good choice.

[GReb]

I tried some decent Abec 5 ceramic hybrids and did not see any real improvements. The sound is annoying but has quieted down some. I don’t see the point in spending the extra money on them. I’ve only had one or two spool bearings go out in 25 years of bait casting. 

[looking45]

A friend and I are in the process of swapping out the felt washers in our Shimano Ci4’s. We found out when the washer in one of his reels started shredding. He’ll be doing all the reels. He said it takes less than 5 minutes per reel. 

[new2BC4bass]

I have one reel that I had ceramic bearings installed in.  DVT installed a set I got at half price because the seller didn't like the noise they made.  Mike also tuned the reel.  I personally don't mind the little extra noise on the cast.  I feel it is actually helpful because it helps me know when the spool is slowing down prior to the lure's touch down. 

 

Have the same model reel that Mike only cleaned.  Can't really tell a difference between them.  Curado 51Es.

[OkobojiEagle]

9 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

 I personally don't mind the little extra noise on the cast.  I feel it is actually helpful because it helps me know when the spool is slowing down prior to the lure's touch down. 

^

[FishTank]

I just worked on several Daiwa reels, some got factory bearings and some got Spool High Speed bearings like the 16 Steez SV below. We will see how it works out. The casting distance on this reel has never been great but it didn't really need to be. With new bearings, I'm hoping it will cast a little further. I replaced a total of 3 bearings, only one really needed it. 

 

[F14A-B]

20 minutes ago, FishTank said:

I just worked on several Daiwa reels some got factory bearings and some got Spool High Speed bearings like the 16 Steez SV below. We will see how it works out. The casting distance on this reel has never been great but it didn't really need to be. With new bearings, I'm hoping it will cast a little further. I replaced a total of 3 bearings, only one really needed it. 

 

Let us know how it goes. 

[newapti5]

Not anymore, because the only reels that I noticed had a significant improvement on casting were the ones with heavy spools, like the Quantam KVD reel that I have. Changing to hybrid spool bearings did alleviate its casting offset due to the heavy spool. 

 

Besides casting improvement, they also have the advantage of maintenance free, but after awhile they became really noisy if I really didn't perform any maintenance on them.  

[Lead Head]

I noticed a significant difference when adding hybrids to reels that have added aftermarket bfs spools. The majority of my reels are bought used from Japan. Most are pretty old so I replace bearings on principal. 

 

[papajoe222]

I had jumped on the ceramic bearing wagon a number of years back. My TDAs and Sols all got them and CarbonTex washers.  The noise never bothered me, until I got my hearing aids.  Only one reel still has the ceramics and it won't have them after I clean it.

[redux]

I replaced the spool bearings with full ceramics in all my Shimano 71s years ago. They normally are available on ebay, come direct from China, and are inexpensive.

I had to learn to manage the speed on my casts and get good with feathering because it is easy to overpower your bait and wind can pull more line since the spool spins so easy.

I think the best thing about them is that I can cast farther with less effort and can also go to weightless baits when I need to.

They give me versatility without thinking about my rod/reel pairings.

[ABU is overpriced]

On 2/24/2025 at 10:05 PM, newapti5 said:

Not anymore, because the only reels that I noticed had a significant improvement on casting were the ones with heavy spools, like the Quantam KVD reel that I have. Changing to hybrid spool bearings did alleviate its casting offset due to the heavy spool. 

 

Besides casting improvement, they also have the advantage of maintenance free, but after awhile they became really noisy if I really didn't perform any maintenance on them.  

Really? For me its the opposite. After i clean them in the ultra sonic cleaner, they make a bit of noise (nowhere near as much as the cheaper bearings from Ali and Boca), but after 3+ days of use, you barely hear them at all.

[newapti5]

8 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Really? For me its the opposite. After i clean them in the ultra sonic cleaner, they make a bit of noise (nowhere near as much as the cheaper bearings from Ali and Boca), but after 3+ days of use, you barely hear them at all.

 

When they're bone dry right after cleaning, they are definitely a bit loud. But once some oil/grease from other parts get into to them after some use, they'll quiet down a little. What I meant was after a relatively long while, like a whole season without maintenance, they'll get really loud with all the debris getting inside. And if that continues, eventually the bearings will be permanently damaged and no cleaning or oil can quiet them down anymore. This happened to me a couple of times.  In both cases, the hybrid bearings still performed quite nicely during casting, but the screaming sound could be heard miles away.  

[redmeansdistortion]

On 2/24/2025 at 11:48 AM, GRiver said:

I replace them with stainless, not ceramic, when needed.

A good abec 5 or 7,  and I grease them. I know it’s kinda fighting against me, but I like a smooth consistency casting reel. I really don’t bomb one out there. And easy and accurate cast is more important to me. A lot of reels have unrated bearings from the factory. 

ABEC rating has nothing to do with internal clearances, but how a bearing fits to a shaft or housing.  It doesn't account for internal clearances, raceway finish, cage quality, or ball quality.  For a bearing to be considered precision, it needs to meet ABEC 1 standards at the minimum.  Both Shimano and Daiwa use NMB stainless bearings many of their reels, which are rated J0, the Japan equivalent of ABEC 1 in the West.  NMB, along with NSK are probably the best quality stainless bearings you'll find.  Both are Japanese brands who make them in Japan, Singapore, and Thailand. 

 

NMBs can be bought in bulk for as little as $2 each when buying from Japan.  If bought domestically, they run ~$6 each.  I run them in all of my reels, even my bench tuned Ambassadeurs set up for light line fishing.  They actually perform better than the Hedgehog Air bearings I ran previously.

[GRiver]

1 hour ago, redmeansdistortion said:

ABEC rating has nothing to do with internal clearances, but how a bearing fits to a shaft or housing.  It doesn't account for internal clearances, raceway finish, cage quality, or ball quality.  For a bearing to be considered precision, it needs to meet ABEC 1 standards at the minimum.

I did not know this, I thought higher the number of abec the tighter the clearance internal and quality of materials…. Everything. Looks like I’m going to have to do some studying 

[ABU is overpriced]

17 hours ago, newapti5 said:

 

When they're bone dry right after cleaning, they are definitely a bit loud. But once some oil/grease from other parts get into to them after some use, they'll quiet down a little. What I meant was after a relatively long while, like a whole season without maintenance, they'll get really loud with all the debris getting inside. And if that continues, eventually the bearings will be permanently damaged and no cleaning or oil can quiet them down anymore. This happened to me a couple of times.  In both cases, the hybrid bearings still performed quite nicely during casting, but the screaming sound could be heard miles away.  

Which brands are you using? I very often don't clean them for over a season, i personally never had em go noisy. Of course, if sand gets in, that's bad, but you will usually feel the crunchiness.

[newapti5]

I use all sorts of brands' and manufacturers', including cheaper Chinese ones and more expensive hedgehog ones, but once debris gets in, it doesn't matter what brand it is. My fishing river and creeks could get quite muddy with debris and weed the current brings, especially during spring times, that's why I always leave the bearing shields on, otherwise I'll have to clean them on weekly basis.

 

Casting performance wise, the best I have used is a pair of Japan ISC bearings from a Chinese made reel. They are regular stainless steel bearings, but the quietness and smoothness without oil is something I have never seen. Of course I still need to put oil in eventually.

41 minutes ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Which brands are you using? I very often don't clean them for over a season, i personally never had em go noisy. Of course, if sand gets in, that's bad, but you will usually feel the crunchin