woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

I bought some different budget reels from Amazon looking for sleepers, high bearing counts and stellar reviews being the focus...

I got a Cadence Lux 2000 last year to go with a higher end Cadence pole, it's a high tech pole that feels like something costing hundreds more. The Lux reel has 9+ 1 bearings and an off the chart 36lb drag system...these are Stella smooth, no exaggeration for under $60

I went ahead and tried the even higher end Primo that has 12+ 1 bearings that is $90 or so and it is incredible for the money, it actually would be incredible for hundreds more.

I've had Japanese version Stella reels that listed at $800+, I'm telling you I cannot tell the difference, they feel unbelievably smooth in all regards, including the way the bail snaps when you cast.

audigger53 Loc: Severn, MD

Love the max Drag, as I do surf and Cat fishing.

DVTracker Loc: Harrisburg, PA.

They look nice, have plenty of bearings, higher drag, priced well and the bail looks heavy duty (thicker than most). A win-win deal…they should be very nice to fish with. Thank you for sharing.

NJ219bands Loc: New Jersey

Nice 😊

bottomcoon Loc: Tahlequah, oklahoma

Beautiful reels. I'll check them out. Thanks for sharing.

Billycrap2 Loc: Mason county,W(BY GOD) Virginia, 🇺🇸🦅

Nice looking reel 👍🏽👍🏽
Thank I will check them out 👍🏽👍🏽🎣🎣🎣🎣🐟🐟🐠🐠🐋🐋🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅🦅

FishermanLeeSonoma

Definitely going to check those out!

Grizzly 17 Loc: South central Pa

Woodguru.
When I was looking for cheaper quality reel I read n interesting article on bearings.
I also was looking at bearing count.
The article stressed the quality of the bearings was more important than the number.

Looks like you hit on both qualities on these reels.👍🎣

bottomcoon Loc: Tahlequah, oklahoma

Hello Griz. You hit on an interesting subject. Number of bearings in a reel. A couple years ago I was speaking with a major reel manufacturer representative & he stated that he would rather have 4 good bearings in a reel than 6 just so-so bearings. I totally agree.
There is a guy in Tulsa, a minister, who overhauls reels for use in distance casting contest. He turns an ambassador 7000 into a work of art. After he's polished & honed plus machined spacers he replaces the bearings with aircraft instrument grade bearings. Those bearings cost well over $100 each. It can cost $1000 or more for customizing a reel. I don't have that kind of money to spend on a fishing reel but I'm not trying to see how far I can cast. Tight lines.

Grizzly 17 Loc: South central Pa

I believe I'll pass on buying one of those also 🤣🤣.

They kinda got everyone so focused on bearing count.

The most expensive baitcasters I own cost $200.
Got 2 on close out for $130 for both.
Several years ago looking for a 5.1:1 ratio baitcaster I purchased a kastking white max for $55.

It has preformed extremely well.
👍

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

The bails are silky smooth and release with a super smooth feeling snap

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

I don't know if you caught the part where I have had the $800 Japanese Stella that has the best bearings there are, as well as a bunch of the $200 to $400 "mid" grades...this feels like a Stella, and that wouldn't be the case if they had crappy bearings going on here, and I actually tried a couple of KastKings that were not even close to this. The reason they are touting bearing count is that it makes a difference, and these Cadence reels are in another category that exceeds the price point. The other factor here is the carbon drags that not only feel like silk, but are rated at 36lbs which is higher than I've seen on 2000 class reels. To me a quality reel is about the drag, the better the drag the bigger the fish that can be successfully landed using everything the line strength will deliver. A smooth drag equates to a more useable drag.

The beauty of Amazon is that you can send something that doesn't meet your expectations back hassle free. Last year when I was buying the Daiwa Lexi line counter reels for trolling I wanted to try a Shimano that cost about $250 which was a hundred dollars more than the Daiwas, I immediately sent it back as it felt like junk compared to the Daiwa reels. If it was a better reel I'd have four of them instead of four Lexi's, it wasn't about the money.

I'm 100% sure that anyone used to lower to mid priced reels (which is most) would be blown away by the way these feel, which is why I posted this...and guys that are used to the best will also be impressed.

By the way, the higher end reels like Shimano and Daiwa are using Chinese made high end bearings, which is what can give the Chinese reel maker a serious price edge...I wouldn't doubt but what the Primo is sporting Stella bearings, it's what it feels like.

smitty Loc: maine

chinese?

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

I agree as well. You hit on an interesting reality here, which is the grade of things like bearings, my guess is that China has a lock on the fine bearing industry, meaning those that are running the highest military specs. For those who understand the nature of military grade and the fact that high grades for the military will cost severely exorbitant amounts of money whereas private industry can access the same or even better quality for way less money, especially in high volume numbers for production. The manufacturer that orders 10,000 bearings could get the same bearings that the custom guy gets a few bearings for at $100 each for less than a few bucks a bearing.

What we are talking about is higher bearing counts that are actually high grade bearings versus lower grade bearings. One of the things China has done for a couple of decades is subsidize components manufactured in China for Chinese products so that they can undercut other country's products. I am in the high end stereo market, and China was manufacturing amps and preamps that performed better than products costing tens of thousands more. I was all over some that cost three or four grand that sounded better than $30k products. They were using the same exact name brand capacitors and components that were being sold to high end manufacturers in other countries at prices that were less than the wholesale of their parts. Audiophile products use some Chinese capacitors and chips that US manufacturers pay hundreds of dollars for and the Chinese government subsidizes their industries...this allows them to use a $300 Auricap (manufacturer's cost) that costs them five bucks.

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

Absolutely, China owns the manufacturing of much of the highest grade components used in military products, so then it's a no brainer for them to be making the highest grade fishing reel bearings that they sell to reel manufacturers in other countries like Daiwa and Shimano.

The Primo reel feels like a Stella because chances are it's using the same bearings.