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NEKHULZ
Titusville, FL.Posts: 24 Deckhand
Budget inshore IRL reel / stradic fix
NEKHULZ
Titusville, FL.Posts: 24 Deckhand
Hello, my dad and I just got back into wade fishing the Indian River Lagoon out here in titusville. My uncle used to be guide in the area and gave us an older Shimano stradic and an older Shimano sustain, there are all probably 15/20 years old, the handle on the stradic is starting to stick really bad when trying to retrieve and I was wondering if there might be a fix for this or if yall might have some decent budget options for a new reel, $50~100
Replies
Next up would be the Diawa BG series...order from Wal mart at about $85 .....and even though I just blew one up....2 + seasons from me is like 10 years of anybody else with it getting everyday use..
As far as the 2 Shimanos... Ricks reel service may be able to get them back up and going...but unless they have some sentimental value....old reels are generally not worth the fix...but the sustain is just pricy enough to maybe be worth a shot.
Many things to do.
Knots to be unraveled
'fore the darkness falls on you
2. A cheap reel I like is the old Penn Slammer. I go on ebay and buy them from a seller in Australia. I've bought a couple of them at different times--no problem at all. Price for a 260 which is a size I use for fishing in the Indian River, is about $60.
Boca Bearing: 1 bearing DISCOUNTED from $114.94 down to just $80.47
https://www.bocabearings.com/products/623-zro2-fc-ld-14689
eBay: 2 bearings $14.19 with free shipping.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2Pcs-623-Full-Ceramic-Bearing-3x10x4mm-Zirconia-Ceramic-Deep-Groove-Ball-Bearing/174099604420?hash=item28892523c4:g:gbUAAOSwlTBd0mKg
So let me do some quick math... 14.19 divided by 2 = $7.095 cents roughly per bearing.
Now let me divide that into Boca price- 80.47 divided by 7.10 = 11.33 times the price for the same bearing. And I did not even include shipping or taxes from Boca which would make it even higher.
Boca buys them from China. And I can buy them from China. At Boca's price I can not afford to do all my reels. Simple economics really.
I believe in supporting American companies, but prices have to be within a reasonable markup. And to me Boca is not even close to reasonable.
And as for stainless bearings... also sourced in China. Stainless these days is mostly recycled in China so those bearings are even cheaper, just pennies for some of them:
Here is a lot of 10 stainless steel 3x10x4mm bearings used in reels for only $2.41 with free shipping. That is less than one U.S. quarter per bearing.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10x-623ZZ-3x10x4mm-Bearing-Miniature-Ball-Shielded-Radial-Bearings-Carbon/254561838139?hash=item3b4511643b:g:lZoAAOSwUPRdhIvv
Boca is $7.21 for same bearing. A markup of nearly 29 times the price from ebay. And I did not include shipping from Boca.
https://www.bocabearings.com/products/smr103(x)-af2-14238
I've been working on reels for decades, and I can tell you I do not pay Boca prices to fix reels. Customers would raise hell! Just sayin'...
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What I posted above is what I would describe as over the counter markups. But if we really take a look at what Boca is doing as far as real markups, it gets much worse.
Take for example that standard stainless steel reel bearing mentioned above. I can buy one bearing for less than .25 cents over the counter to me my price.
But sitting in Boca's shoes, they can buy 10,000 at one time and get that price much lower. What say .07 cents per bearing or even .05 cents per bearing. I'll go with .07 just for markup demonstration...
Boca's over the counter price to us per bearing is $7.21 divided by their real wholesale price from bulk purchasing at .07 = a markup of 103 times the cost.
How many businesses get to run on that kind of a profit margin?
I am a businessman too. I gotta make a buck and put food on the table for myself and my kids and pay the bills and I don't know about you, but rather than me supporting or trying to support some CEO and his high salary and bonuses and mercedes and house on the beach type of thing, I'd rather shift some of those profits into MY pockets and not his. I'd like to bring that guy down a notch or 2 while trying to raise myself up a little and so I gotta beat his prices and slide some of those profits my way.
Just the way it goes...
I also use the older shimano spinning reels. My preferences are FG, FH, FI, and FJ series reels. Nothing newer for me. Same for sustains, stellas and others. I want the older reels. I love to seek out broken older reels because the owner let's them go really cheap and I can fix them. So it is a win win for me.
One man's trash is another man's treasure and it has never been truer for reels! So I vote for overhauling those 2 reels as well. Once done, with care, they can last another 20 years!
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I should note, another reason I do not want newer stradics is because Shimano has gone to a line guide roller with a bearing pressed fit into it. So if you need to replace the bearing, you gotta replace the line guide roller along with it. And when shimano stops making that part, people who own those reels are screwed!
So this is another reason I avoid them, and is another project I will have to invest time in trying to undo this BS shimano has thrown our way. I want to find a way to remove that bearing and use another one- or, just swap out the line roller with another one if possible.
It sucks when the brands build reels in such a way that makes them un-serviceable to the end users like us. Daiwa did it too with their magnetic fluid reels. Pain in the rear! I won't touch those either for personal use.