Educate me on ceramic bearings, please

[deadwood]

Okay, so I bought a Shimano Curado 200e7 from a dude on Ebay and the thing came with ceramic bearings. I used it for the first time today, and boy am I impressed with the way it casts! I am thinking of ordering some more for other reels, but I'm not very well informed on what kind to get. Any suggestions on the best brand(s) to get would be appreciated. Thanks

[davidsa]

orange seal and ZPI ABEC 7 class bearings are what I've used in my reels. In older models like the E7, I felt too it was a nice upgrade. Shimano has upped its game on stock bearings in the CI4 and Metanium reels for sure and I'm not sure in my hand the upgrade does much other then bring noise that ceramics produce.

[LgMouthGambler]

Get some Hedgehog ZR bearings from The Tackle Trap. They are great performing bearings and dont have that "noise" that those ceramics have.

[Nick D]

Get some Hedgehog ZR bearings from The Tackle Trap. They are great performing bearings and dont have that "noise" that those ceramics have.

Or the HH Air bearings. I have both the Air and Air HD. They are worth every dollar. The Tackle Trap will take care of you!

[deadwood]

Thanks, I'll get some ordered.

[fluke1987]

Just some things I have picked up...

The higher the ABEC rating the tighter the tolerances will be on the bearing...also higher the cost. Also in order to get a certain ABEC rating only one component in the bearing assembly has to be to ABEC tolerances (races or balls). ABEC 7 is the best precision/price ratio you can get... true ABEC 9 are almost impossible to get and at a pretty high price tag.

I run my ABEC 7 Boca Bearings with no shield and no oil. The shields haver a polymer coating bonded to a steel shield and eventually break down over time. Oil also seems to slow down the performance of the bearing some...so if it is incredibly unwieldy or noisy I would only add a drop of oil at the very most.

Last thing...not all reels will react the same to a bearing upgrade. Some reels it will make a huge difference and others not so much. Seems to me that reels with an actual spool shaft see a more noticeable difference opposed to a free floating spool.

[davidsa]

Just some things I have picked up...


Last thing...not all reels will react the same to a bearing upgrade. Some reels it will make a huge difference and others not so much. Seems to me that reels with an actual spool shaft see a more noticeable difference opposed to a free floating spool.

x2 I'm not sure why true but this is my finding as well

[deadwood]

So can you buy these ABEC 7 bearings without shields, or do you have to remove them?

[Cestratton]

The orange seal Boccas have a rubber seal that is orange, I take a fish hook and poop them out. There are several youtube videos on how to remove the seal.

[Cestratton]

Another thing to consider is you may not see a drastic difference in distance but you will notice a difference in "castability". I started my first set in a reel that had a little age on it to experiment and have since added a pair of Boccas to all my older reels as well as reels I've bought used on here. I recently put some in a Core and can't keep from throwing my bait literally on the bank. I put some in one of my wife's older Chronarch and she does the same thing.

[davidsa]

Another thing to consider is you may not see a drastic difference in distance but you will notice a difference in "castability". I started my first set in a reel that had a little age on it to experiment and have since added a pair of Boccas to all my older reels as well as reels I've bought used on here. I recently put some in a Core and can't keep from throwing my bait literally on the bank. I put some in one of my wife's older Chronarch and she does the same thing.

slowly back the boat away from shore

[K-DAWG]

Whats the difference in the ABEC 5 and ABEC 7? I went to tackle trap and looked at their bearing selection. Way to many (6) different kinds to make it a easy choice.

[Cestratton]

slowly back the boat away from shore

It may have also been due to the fact that for the past several weeks we've been throwing 1/16 oz crappie jigs so switching back to bass is taking some adjusting

[JohnD.]

Whats the difference in the ABEC 5 and ABEC 7? I went to tackle trap and looked at their bearing selection. Way to many (6) different kinds to make it a easy choice.

abec7 = high grade

abec5 = mid grade

pm THKUSTOMS

forum sponsor and he sells boca abec7 orange seal.

[davidsa]

It may have also been due to the fact that for the past several weeks we've been throwing 1/16 oz crappie jigs so switching back to bass is taking some adjusting

so true

[davidsa]

It may have also been due to the fact that for the past several weeks we've been throwing 1/16 oz crappie jigs so switching back to bass is taking some adjusting

so true

[Bronzefly]

Whats the difference in the ABEC 5 and ABEC 7? I went to tackle trap and looked at their bearing selection. Way to many (6) different kinds to make it a easy choice.

It's far more than just a "grade" difference. US bearing ratings use the ABEC system, many of the Japanese companies do not. BOCA bearings are fine, The Tackle Trap sells them, but I much prefer both Hedgehog Studio and ZPI as I've found them to be better overall quality. If you have questions about the products on the site and need clarification, please call the shop or send me a PM here and I'll do my best to assist.

[No hot foot]

I put a set of HH BFS Airs in my Daiwa Alphas Type F and they are the best I've tried yet. I've used plenty of Boca 5's and OS 7's and from now on it'll be HH for my reels!

[HalBrown]

Bamtam1 the Shimano rep on Tackle Trap in 2011 said that while DC reel spools can reach 30,000 rpm, the normal max RPM of a regular baitcaster spool is 20-25,000 rpm and spool bearings beyond ABEC 5 was overkill. Don't know if that is still true.