Zillion, Revo, Curado, Patriarch XT, Others?

[jeb2]

As far as smoothness, none of those reels match the Zillion. The Zillion's retrieve is like greased glass on glass.

You should try the '10 Revo Premier. I don't own a Zillion, but the new Premier is the smoothest of any of my high end reels, by far. As you say, like oiled glass on glass. Incredible.

The worm gear on the Revo is plastic.

Not on the new Premier. I had one of mine apart again yesterday for cleaning. Main gear is alum, worm gear seems to be brass. But is for sure metal of some kind.

But the new the dual braking system on the '10 Revo and XT are turn-offs for me. It's an attempt to come up with a fool-proof brake system. It adds weight and people that can learn to cast a mag or centrifugal brake simply don't need both.

Given my experience with other reels with DBS, I'd almost agree with you. Except that I own 2 of the new Premier's with their DBS system and it's nothing short of stellar. The two systems truely work in concert with each other, or can be completely disengaged. The first DBS I've seen that really works.

The Premiers work awesome for light or heavy lures, depending on the rod more than anything else. My E7 is a good workhorse reel, but not really in the league of the new Premier. And it does not cast small lures nearly as well. It's a more "fussy" reel, if you will.

[Micro]

Not on the new Premier. I had one of mine apart again yesterday for cleaning. Main gear is alum, worm gear seems to be brass. But is for sure metal of some kind.

I'm not saying you are wrong since I haven't cracked one open. But I'm curious why Abu would put a brass worm gear in their "light weight" Revo. It has a lighter spool, aluminum drive gear, but a brass worm gear? All the heavy Revos I've owned, including the previous Premier, it was plastic.

[Fat-G]

I'm far from a Zillion expert. But I do like to try a lot of different things.

What's impressive about the Curado is that it will cast light baits as well as the Sol, and heavy baits as well as the Zillion. It's smooth, strong and comfortable. Right now it's my second favorite reel.

Now, lemme tell you about my new Core 100MgFV...

I remember when they first came out, Shimano reps and the guys over at TT used them for just about everything. Deep cranks, jigs, plastics, swimbaits, spinnerbaits, basically everything.

The Curado seriously is an extremely versatile reel, and it's built like a tank. Low profile, smooth, power knobs...