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Been lurking on here for years but just thought I’d share my input on this product. I was pretty excited to get my hands on one, I’m a sucker for high end precision stuff so this was right up my alley. I picked mine up and was pretty impressed, but after playing with it for a bit I’d have to say it’s a bit flawed and there are some issues with tolerances, not sure if this is due to poor machining or poor design, it is possible the reel needs this “slop” in order to function correctly. I will say my reel does seem to function 100%, drag works, clicker works, free spoil tensioner works, spools spins free and true.
My main gripes have to do with the excessive play in the handle shaft and also the configuration of the drag. I took the reel apart and found the inner bearing on the handle shaft is a nice tight fit, but the outer bearing has at least a couple thousandths of play between the reel body and the bearing, also there is another couple of thousandths play in the brass handle shaft and both inner and out handle shaft bearings. My concern is the play on the outer bearing and reel body is intentional. The drag is a series of discs found near the inner bearing, for the drag knob to inflict pressure it must compress all the components on the shaft that are found between the drag discs and the drag adjustment knob, one of these components is the outer bearing, it must be able to slide in and out on the shaft in order for the drag to function, this seems like a poor design, especially if the excessive slop is needed for it to function. In my opinion a $100 machined reel should not have an noticeable slop on the handle, my $10 plastic deals are tight as can be in the handle, they really missed the mark here.
My next concern is the drag adjustment knob itself, with such little threaded area its wobbles around all loosey goosey as well, really feels cheap when its backed out all the way, just wobbles like crazy. Also if you are not careful and back the knob out too far it will contact the handle, could mess up the finish and simply doesn’t feel good to have metal on metal rubbing, I’ll be tossing a .010” black acetal washer in there when I take it apart again.
The areas where it has been machined and anodized orange look pretty awful for a $100 reel, looks like they did a single pass with a dull cutter, a 2nd light finish pass or fresh cutter would have made all the difference, looks pretty shotty considering its price point.
That’s the bad stuff, the plus is the spool spins absolutely flawless, not a hint of wobble or friction, if only this precision had carried into the handle shaft. Other than the minor machining issues the reel looks killer, it is side heavy but when I put a glove on it didn’t feel too bad and I had no issues with the handle configuration, but that’s just me.
My guess is they will tweak the handle area, maybe try and bring some of it further inboard to reduce the offset weight. Overall a nice reel, even with its issues it’s the nicest one I own, hopefully the next version is better. Not sure if I’ll keep it and try and fix the issues, sell it, or just use it as is, hard to feel the wobble with a glove on but I know its there and it bugs me…..
Thanks, let me know what you end up doing to remedy this issue. Also, if you decide to hone anything out and make a sleeve to take up the few thou gap, let me know. any reason why acetol instead of nylon or other plastics? oil filled uhmw or even oil filled nylon could work well I am thinking so the friction doesn’t affect it as much.
atleast it landed in hands of a person that can & will do reverse engineering improvements to keep yourself satisfied. 
