Bassnajr Posted January 9, 2008 Posted January 9, 2008 Hey all... Went to Dick's tonight...I've had my eye on a St. Croix rod in their "clearance" area. It's a St. Croix Triumph TRS70MF 7' (one piece) Med. power /Fast action 6-12 lb. line Lure weight 1/4-5/8 oz. I paid $53.00. Now did I get a deal or no deal?? (I know it's cheesy but, come on!!! How often do 'ya get to use a play on words like this!!?? bassnajr Quote
Pond Hopper Posted January 9, 2008 Posted January 9, 2008 Do not take this the wrong way, I would say no Quote
KevO Posted January 9, 2008 Posted January 9, 2008 I would have to say no also. I was going to buy one but I asked first here and was told to buy an avid or premier rather than a triumph because they are not as well made. Quote
Bassnajr Posted January 9, 2008 Author Posted January 9, 2008 Wow!!! The list was $110.00...glad I kept the receipt. I still like the way it feels. Humm!!?? Quote
xxmurrxx Posted January 9, 2008 Posted January 9, 2008 St croix will offer an upgrade, They will give you credit for the rods list price on the website, and you pay the difference for whatever rod your looking at. I just did that from my premier -> ledgend tournament rod. Paid the $120 rod difference and $20 for shipping Easy process, no problems, Only thing is that the whole send and receive process could take a while. Quote
Super User Jeff H Posted January 9, 2008 Super User Posted January 9, 2008 For $53 it's a good deal. Probably not a d**n thing wrong with it either. It's the same blank as a Premier, just built in China from what I've read on this board. Big deal. If you like the rod, fish it!!! Not everybody needs a $200 rod to catch fish. Find him a better rod for $53....if you can. Quote
fishinnstudyin Posted January 9, 2008 Posted January 9, 2008 Not exactly the best deal. Those triumphs go for $70 new, not $110. The $110 rod is the St Croix Premier. Also, I actually don't think that some Chinese made rods are that badly made. Shimano's rods are all made in China along with Fenwicks. Some of those rod wrappers have been wrapping for over a decade. Usually the less experienced wrap the cheap rods and the high end rods are wrapped by the experts. St Croix does the same thing as well. Those Premiers are not wrapped by the 'experts,' the experts will wrap the high end fly rods and the legends. But even the low-end rods will still have semi-experienced wrappers. I went to South Korea and visited a factory that wrapped high-end fly rods. Some of the rod wrappers had more than 3 decades of experience in textiles and could wrap the guides in a very very short amount of time. You pay the majority for the blank in higher end rods. But still a large amount of money that you pay goes into the wrappings and corks. A Chinese made rod of equal characteristics to an American made rod will cost about 1/4 less than the American made rod because of the lower cost of labor. instead of say paying a rodsmith $10-20 dollars an hr, they'll be paid $1-4 dollars an hr to wrap rods. Some people will say the quality of US made rods are much higher than foreign made rods, personally I don't see the difference in high-end rods. That's why I think the Shimano Compres/Crucials/Cumaras and Fenwick Techna AVs are just about the best bang for the buck mid/high end rods out there because the cost of labor is cheaper when you get foreign rods. In my opinion (but others will more than likely disagree), the Fenwick HMX is just about the best $80 dollar spinning rod out there. I prefer the Fenwicks over any other rod under $100 bucks. Compres do come close though in my book. Anyone else have a favorite around/near $100? Also. True, I still will occasionally want to/will purchase a custom rod made in the US because some custom rods are just sweet. But the majority of my rods I buy are bang for the buck rods because I'm still in school and don't have the luxury to pay for high end rods. Also, except for the ultra light rods, the Triumph and Premier seem the same to me and appear to me to be made as well as each other. But I don't think I'd buy them. Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted January 9, 2008 Super User Posted January 9, 2008 Shop around and find an Avid on clearance. One of our members found them for $65, but lots of guys have bought them for less than $100. This is by far, the Best Bang For The Buck! Quote
Super User FishTank Posted January 9, 2008 Super User Posted January 9, 2008 I'd have to say no. I purchased one when they came out for $39.99 ($49.99 - $10 off coupon) at Dick's on sale. I never cared for this rod and I ended up returning it. I have found the Avid there on sale for $75. Quote
Super User ww2farmer Posted January 9, 2008 Super User Posted January 9, 2008 Well I will say yes..........you got a deal, not a great one but an OK one. Heck a $70 for $53 is ok by me. The Triumph is a decent rod. Some people here have had/seen quality control issues with them, but I own one and it has been flawless. What I think some of the problem on this site with the Triumph is #1 some people think just because it's a St Croix, people have unrealistic expectations of how an entry level rod should perform. There are some rods in this range that perfoem better, many that are worse.#2 is that is not really a high "bang for the buck" rod like.........lets say a BPS Extreme, but the trade off for better guides on the BPS IMHO is not enought to condem the Triumph. #3 some people don't like that they are made in China, I don't have much to say about that, if you don't like Chinese made rods don't buy them. I would keep the rod, fish it, you won't find anything else better for $53, and IF there is some problem with it, St Croix will take care of it. Quote
Guest muddy Posted January 9, 2008 Posted January 9, 2008 I actually had a much better experience with the Triumph's than the Premiers. I do not think it's degrading for St Croix to offer rods to people who can afford them at a lesser pricing point. That being said if you can upgrade to an old style Avid, do it because thats a chance to get a fine rod at a lower price than it normally was offered at. Quote
Bassnajr Posted January 9, 2008 Author Posted January 9, 2008 Hey all I went back to Dicks and returned the rod. Not because I didn't like it, but after I did some research, and with the help of you guys here, I realized that they had marked it wrong (too high) and then took 40% off, so it was NOT a great deal. I guess for an Avid it would have been. Thanks all... ajr Quote
Super User Tin Posted January 9, 2008 Super User Posted January 9, 2008 Alan, I didn't think the Dicks in Warwick or Smithfield carried Avid's. I was in there last week and they didn't have any, and I have not seen any in either since the time they opened 4 or 5 years ago. Or does one of the employees have a secret stash of them? Quote
Bassnajr Posted January 9, 2008 Author Posted January 9, 2008 You're right tin..no Avids ... Warwick has St Croix Premiers ajr Quote
=Matt 5.0= Posted January 10, 2008 Posted January 10, 2008 Alan, I bought a Triumph 2 years ago...wasn't really impressed. I'm keeping it in the garage for my son. Will be a good rod for him in a few years. Quote
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