the winn grips were fine, just too big and bulky looking,i figured the cork would look better with the new reel seat. I did three of these the exact way. These were my first winn grip rods done back a few years, today i just cut the rear winn grip to be inserted into the that reel seat much smaller and looks 10x better. i have winn grips on almost of my other rods casting and spinning. The only thing i don't like about the winn grips is they get dirty pretty fast.