I was talking to a guy the other day that says he always upgrades his reel bearings so his reels cast a mile. Me on the other hand I take the reel out of the box and spool line on it and use it. Is there any real benefits to upgrading bearings and where do you get them. Most of my reels are ABU Revo Rockets (Gen3 and Gen4) or Revo STX SHS reels.
I personally never seen the benefit. Your major brands will already come with some exceptional bearings
Nitro z21
Just for giggles I upgraded two of my Lew's. One with Boca's the other with Air Hogs. I think the one with Boca's made a slight improvement in launching big crankbaits. The other, used for throwing lighter, balsa cranks, meh. I would bet Lew's uses pretty good bearings to start with so I don't see upgrading any other reels. I've only been out once with them, so still some "testing" to go but I think I'm pretty accurate with what I've seen so far.
2017 Phoenix 819
2016 200ProXS, s/n 2B359849, Mod 1200P73BD
As with any bearing, they will have to break in a little. After a few more outings you will see an improvement.Originally Posted by krindgen
Yes especially for casting lighter baits.
Hedgehog and ZPI bearings are the best IMO.
The Hedgehogs are a little noisey?
2017 Phoenix 819
2016 200ProXS, s/n 2B359849, Mod 1200P73BD
Where do you get them?
I'm 100% on board with Hedgehog Studio and ZPI spool bearings. They are fantastic, high quality pieces and I can see a performance difference vs stock on most any reels. The Tackle Trap carries them and is a BBC sponsor. You are welcome to call the shop to talk about them anytime M-F 7am to 5pm central - 256 281 6160 - we use these ourselves and know these products well.
Bearings @ The Tackle Trap
.
I got mine from Japan and from the tackle trap.
I put Boca's in a Lews Tournament Pro, I also clean and lube my reels every year and the Boca's didn't add enough performance to justify it in my opinion.
I tried aftermarket bearings and could not see a noticible “reel” world advantage with them vs clean and lightly oiled stock bearings. See if a clean and lube of your stock bearings helps first.
Waste of money imo. But if you strive for 24 more inches knock yourself out
Aftermarket bearings aren't for everyone given different styles of fishing. If you are a bank-running flipper then you will not see a noticeable difference. Conversely, if you fish deep, clear water and need to keep some distance then, yes, you will benefit. I love the performance of the Hedgehogs for casting lightweight baits with distance and accuracy. I have ZPIs too and they are top notch.
What oil does everyone use. Haven’t oiled a reel in years.
I’ve had the same bottle of YRF (Yellow Rocket Fuel) for over 15 years. Probably haven’t used 10% of it in all these years.
Yellow Rocket Fuel oil and I upgrade my bearings
I always upgrade my spool bearings, unless its a JDM Shimano. I use the HawgTech bearings, and for the price, they are hard to beat. Bocas are junk Chinese, and the Japanese ones are great, but high in cost. I can get 3 sets of HawgTechs for what I can get one set of ZPi/Hedgehogs for.
LMAO, IMHO upgraded bearings are always "the deal" to those who sell them. Do I offer them ? Yes, but only because some people just have to have them, and I sell at cost....moral of the story, dont believe everything you read on the internet. A good tuner can improve your reels performance without "hot wheel" bearings. One app the hybrids do make sense in is
in reels used in brackish inshore waters. Dan
Last edited by reelex; 09-20-2019 at 11:22 PM.
" Serious Service for the Serious Angler"
I use sewing machine oil. Been using it for 20 yrs. Works like a charm.
Not a necessary item unless you feel the need or if your stock bearings are damaged or shot. Most $100 and up reels are going to have nice stock bearings already and the mid to upper tier reels are going to have really nice ones. And the stock bearings if in good condition, properly cleaned and lightly oiled will sling normal bass baits just fine.
Replacing bearings in reels for me sort of goes along with spool swaps. Look at the variety of bearings offered by HH studios. They makes some for general use, some for heavier baits and some for tossing really light baits. If I am wanting to achieve a quality BFS setup I need a very light spool and bearings made for casting light baits to achieve optimal results.
For the most part what some of these upgraded bearings give you is a higher quality longer lasting product, depending on the application maybe a little more distance, but it also gives you a pretty smooth cast without applying much effort.
The only downside of upgraded bearings and getting a reel spool spinning so fast can be potential backlashes. A great example for me was combining a Steez 103 with mag v breaking with upgraded bearings for and fluorocarbon line. Instant nightmare. To solve this I swapped to a more controlled spool (RCS1016) and the difference was night and day.
Your milage may vary...
Reply With Quote
