Originally Posted by
DrewFlu33
I'm a Daiwa guy through and through after Shimano shafted me on warranty service for three 6-month old bound up Symetres saying it was caused by a "wear part," so take this all with that in mind - I'm sure Shimano makes fine reels in that price point now, I just won't find out.
The Tatula is an awesome spinning reel, and if you care about light weight, I think that's your pick in the price range. I've got one, and it's great. However, I'd argue that Daiwa's BG is a better reel overall - smoother operating, smoother drag, feels more sturdy - and it comes in quite a bit cheaper barely cracking the $100 mark. To be fair, any incremental improvement the BG has over the Tatula in performance is pretty minimal, but I think is magnified due to the price points. The only down side is that the BG is heavier, I'm sure being driven by the oversized gear and waterproof drag as well as the aluminum frame (vs what seems to be a graphite frame of some sort on the Tatula). The oversized gear is also probably why it feels so smooth and sturdy, and I'd wager the waterproof drag is at least part of why that piece is so smooth at its price point.
In either case, both the BG and Tatula have handles that screw INTO the frame as opposed to the classic pass-through style that gets screwed into place via the cap on the opposite side. I think this goes a long way in removing play in the system and making a reel that's smooth out of the box and stays that way. I'm not sure if others have gone to that or not.
Trying to quantify the weight piece, the best thing I know to do is compare it to Shimano. Daiwa reels for a given size seem to be a little bigger than Shimano. In other words a 2500 Daiwa is bigger than a 2500 Shimano, but not a full size bigger...a Shimano 2500 is somewhere in the middle of the Daiwa 2000 and 2500. Comparing weights: the BG 2000 weighs 8.5 oz, the 2500 weighs 9.3 oz. A Stradic FK 2500 is 8.3 oz, the FL is 7.9 oz, and the CI4 is 6.7 oz. For reference, the Tatula weighs 5.8 and 6.2 oz for the 2000 and 2500 series, respectively.
Weight doesn't really bother me in a spinning reel, and I think in a lot of cases can actually make a set up more comfortable due to the effect of balancing rods better, particularly longer ones. That's probably at least part of why I like that BG so much and honestly prefer my BGs to my Tatula. If weight savings are important, though, I think the Tatula is a great choice.
I’m with you, I like Lews casting reels but their spinning are a joke. Never felt one that wasn’t clunky or and they all felt like it was binding similar to an older Shimano Sahara that would get wet. I’d never consider a Lews spinning reel over what the other market options are
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