Shimano Stradic

just wondering what everyone thinks of the stradic. Im liking the gear ratio but 4 ball bearings? and $120. i dont know what to think.. thanx a lot

Cody

That is the only spinning reel I use, between me and my partner we have six of them, oldest being five years old and works like the newest one I have. Wouldn’t fish any other spinning reel. I also sell reels at Scheels All Sports so I get to test a lot of different models. I would take that 4 ball-bearing reel over any of the 10 ball-bearing Pinnacles. J.J.

HFP,

I am with webstj on this one as well. These reels are the smoothest most reliable reels I have yet to get my hands on.

I used to be a long time symetre fan and love these reels too, but when I took the next step a few years back, I was truely amazed at how nice of a reel the stradic was. The Fluid Drive is ultra smooth and stays that way in real cold weather (sub-zero). The drag is also very smooth and reliable. There is no extra play in the reel whatsoever. Since then, I have replaced all of my symetre’s with stradic’s and have never regretted it other than a the cost, but you quickly forget about that after spending a few minutes with one in your hand.

Most reels suffer from fatigue from the harshness of superlines (fireline, spiderwire,etc…) over a period of time. Its a known fact that these lines do put a fair amount of stress on the gears and bails on all reels. I have yet to break down a stradic in these conditions where others have failed by now.

Good Luck and give one a try!

Let us know your thoughts if you do buy a stradic?

I just bought a pair of the new Quantum reels at this year’s sports show. They’re brand new from Quantum. One ($90) is the Catalyst, the other ($80) is the KT20. Both have titanium bails and no bail springs. Quantum put a magnet in the spring area instead, in order to eliminate that one little problem that occurs after lots of clicks shut. The thing that really turned me on about the reels was the fact that I could sit on the thing and not wreck the bail, since you can twist that little sucker into a knot and it snaps right back (it’s the titanium). Okay, so you shouldn’t sit on them.

As for comparison, the best I can do is say that they’re right up there with the Symetre, which is on my other rod. A great deal. The only drawback is that the bails have a weird habit of not opening unless you spin them to a “just right” position. Otherwise, they’re as smooth and fabulous as I could want.

Anyone else handled one of these?

Mike

I’ve been using Sedona’s for 4 years now and haven’t had one of those break down either. IN fact, I have an AX1000 that’s still kicking too…………..Shimano just plain makes a good product line. Over the winter I bought a Stradic 2000 and used it for the first time this last weekend. No complaints yet but it actually seems stiffer in it’s reeling than my Sedona’s……….more resistant feeling. Maybe it’s just not broke in yet. But given the performance of my Sedona’s, sometimes I wonder about the cost effectiveness of the Stradic………….you can buy 2 Sedona’s and a couple of crank baits for the same money…………..they’re pretty dang smooth themselves and so far…………..they’re standing up to the test just fine.

I dare say that DeeZee gets a lot more time on the water than I so the comparison may not be exactly even, but I get on the water about 50-60 times a year, half or more of which is using the Sedona’s.

Agree on that kid…. Love my Sedona’s. Best reel for the money out there. Super smooth drag, no slop anti reverse, tough as nails reels. Can’t see paying the extra cash for an upgrade to the top end Shimono reels.

J.

that makes 3 of us…. just bought another sedona… and my old one has had a ton of use.. no problems

Hey Guys- this year they updated the Shimano Sahara, if you don’t want to spend the money on a stradic or symmetry, try this 59.99 beauty. It honestly is better than the 75$ symmetry.

I have to agree with Webjst. Last summer I bought 3 Sedonas and 2 of the Sahara models and I think both of these are great! I have 1 stradic but I really don’t notice enough difference to make me purchase another. I also tried one of the Symetre reels and returned it because it felt very stiff.

Dave

I agree that shimano reels in general stand up well. I have a couple of old reels from when I was a kid and still use them on a couple of my ice fishing poles. I think that any of the higher end shimanos work well, but just like anything else, sometimes one won’t work like it should. I had a sahara that didn’t seem to work well. Never had any problems with my symetrys or stradics though, and the curado is about all I use on my baitcasters.

I had a stradic until it was lifted from me ice fishing. ANyway, It was my favorite 1000 size reel to date. Keep in mind that your next door neighbor could own the same make and model, but not be afforded the exact workmanship or quality construction. I have heard a ton of positives for Sedonas, but I blew 3 out in one season stream fishing all to crappy bail springs and bail eyes. Granted, I am continuously casting!

Back to the subject! For stream fishing the stradic had the best gear ratio out there. It made for easy retrieve in fast current. I wasn’t racing myself all of the time like other models. The drag was the BEST I have personally experienced in a spinning reel!! Very fine setting and smooth!!! I am not too concerned about how many bearings or how smooth it reels persay, generally if it has ball bearings it will work. It’s just an added bonus to a decent reel.

WIll I spend that kind of cash for another? Probably not. It was a fine reel, oooohhh I miss you sweet stradic!!!!

Jim W