newapti5

TBH, OP gives me a vibe of marketing survey people in disguise. Sorry if I am mistaken. Anyway, you could find answers to questions like this by a simple search through the old posts.

There are plenty of other reviews here and out there, so I'll try to be brief. It's very smooth, like round reel smooth. Casting wise, since it has a deeper spool, I thought it couldn't handle light lures very well; I was wrong. The spool is deeper yet narrower, so after being filled with braid, it weighs just about 20 gram, which is pretty good for a spool with that line capacity. The only shortcoming is that since the spool is narrower, some people with big thumbs complains about the difficulty to thumb the spool. I have a regular size thumb for a 6' male, and no complains from me. Size wise, it's very similar to 20 Metanium, length or width, so you get the idea. But it's much heavier (almost 2 oz I think?). The Bantam weighs about 7.9oz after being filled with braid line. I don't mind this weight at all, but it might bother some. Regarding ergonomics, I grab a BC setup the same way you do, but I don't wrap my index finger on the front of the reel very often. When I do, I feel like not many rods' reel seats can accommodate that well. So far, I only find my GLX with the Bantam would allow me to do that comfortably - I could either easily wrap my index finger on the front, or put it under the rod.

Hmm, I guess there's more to its performance than meets the eye. With the current exchange rate, I am a little tempted to try one out now.

Yeah, IMO even for ZPI, it's a bit hard to justify the high price with a seemingly generic mag brake.

How does the ZPI Alcance handle actually? I heard mixed reviews, and TBH, it doesn't look so appealing from the outside.

You and I may have a different definition of "linear." Right now there's a quite interesting article on TT forum regarding Magforce calculation. I am not saying it's 100% correct, but at the end, it does show the brake force torque is a quadratic function of spool speed. That's only for regular Magforce Z. For SV spool, I imagine the relation will be more complex. So why do you consider the Magforce linear to spool speed? Are you referring to fixed inductor cup situation like the one on Exceler reel? Please elaborate.

I agree. It won't hurt much. If there's nothing serious, I figure the charge would be very reasonable. If there is, professional help would be the best channel to get it fixed. It's better than having the frustration with a $230 reel every time. BTW, I don't currently own a 20 Metanium - I sold mine, but I do have a 22 Bantam with similar Silent Tune design and SVS braking system. That thing is a casting machine when it comes to 1/4oz jigs, and I seldom get any backlashes. The Metanium should perform similarly - anything less than that isn't normal.

Well, with some thumbing of course. What I tried to say is, don't set the spool tension too loose, at least with no side-to-side play. That's what I do with all my reels, no matter what brands. Also, Magforce braking isn't linear braking.

Yes, because Steez is that much lighter.

It depends on which reel you're referring to. For JDM only reels, often you'll need to get the parts from plat.co.jp. Otherwise it'll be fine. For reel services, if you're referring to warranty repairs, JDM reels don't have warranties, but I don't think third party service providers, like @Delaware Valley Tackle here, would turn you down simply because it's a JDM reel. (Or would he?)

Besides adjusting brake dial on the sideplate, how tight is the spool tension set to? Due to the SVS brake design, modern Shimano reels' brakes won't function well if the spool tension is too loose. Try to set it to just eliminating the side-to-side play on the spool. Also, just as mentioned above, MGL spools aren't as stable as SV spools if you cast it too hard. With MGL spools, you don't have to whip it hard to get great casting results. If none of these works, try to change the spool bearings - they might be damaged due to contamination.

I used to have a Piscifun reel, whose reel seat foot got broken after a couple of trips; they gave me a full refund. I had also asked KastKing how to obtain certain parts for its Royal reel; they sent me a whole bag of spare parts without any charge. I used to have a Daiwa reel whose line guide ring fell off after a month or two. Lucky, I didn't lose it. I didn't bother with the warranty and superglued it back; It had held up pretty well.

Yeah that's true, but at least we can do some cleaning on the worm gear and reapply some grease/oil, right?

You mean why the opening of level wind guard isn't facing downward or inward? I thought about that also, and my guess is no matter which direction the opening is facing, there'll be some disadvantage. If it faces downward, the line guide pawl and pawl cap would also face downward, increasing the height of a supposedly low-profile reel. I don't have a Curado DSV, but I guess since it's a big reel, this issue won't matter much. If it faces inward like the picture shows, it may seem like a good idea, but the water spilled from the spool and line would easily get into the worm gear during cast or any other high speed rotation. Also it'd be hard to do simple maintenance on the worm gear. And it can't face upward for obvious reason, so finally, I guess they decided facing outward is the least of all evils.

I guess it depends on which website and which item you're referring to. If a reel is past its popularity, like the 19 Alphas CT SV, they're not getting more of it, as manufactures like Daiwa don't make it anymore. Also, some website gets restocked regularly, some not.

I could be wrong, but this one doesn't seem to have a braking system, only tension knob/mechanical brake. So to change spool, you'll need to change palm side plate as well if you want a braking system. If you don't want that, then the closest frame/spool would be SLX I think.

It seems that similar questions regarding DC reels would pop up here on regular basis, about once a month: “Is it worthy?" "Should I buy a DC over others?" "What is the advantage of DC reels?"... I am not complaining; I am just thinking that with DC technology advancing, one of these days, the answers will be in consensus - "yes DC reel is the best!"

Maybe it's the line; some braided line is just too soft to behave well in slack line. You could try fluoro or mono instead. Some of them aren't that stretchy for single hook applications, like Yo-zuri Hybrid. Also, maybe change to a different reel. Not familiar with Penn Pursuit reel, but that could be the issue as well.

IMO there is nothing wrong with being casual with reel selections - although I have favorites, there're just too many temptations out there for me to stay loyal to one or two brands. Doubly so with rods. But I understand why serious tournament anglers being brand loyal as a means to have better control and stability.

Can paintball guns and airsoft guns knock out a wild deer so you could control it? I am genuinely asking since I don't hunt. If they do, then I would say it's similar. To me, catch and release is helping the fish population most of the time, but it doesn't count as "catch," nor will it give me much joy, if I didn't put the fish in the boat and have a feeling of mastering and conquering. It would be "see and escape" otherwise.

A little reminder when ordering reels from third party sellers on Amazon.co.jp: Some of the third party sellers list reels as new, but only one available, as if it is the last one. Often time it is a used one. It may be in "like-new" condition, but technically, it's not brand-new.

Not likely, unless you're really pressing down hard on the spool, in which case you may deform some light spools, or damage some small size spool bearings. But honestly, with how smooth today's reel drag is, I only press down on the spool during hookset to boost the drag a bit, but never totally press down the thumb bar.

As a Daiwa fanboy, I'd suggest Shimano's new 22 Bantam for the task. Line capacity, brass gears, castability, Bantam is made for this. It's priced similarly as the new Zillion. If you're set on Daiwa, I'd also suggest the Zillion HD version, which is about $50 more.

Sure you can; I do that all the time. Shimano, Abu, BPS reel, unknown Chinese brand, a pencil sharpener... I put that on everything.

Alan Hawk has a long review for BG, including every bit of details. He rated BG the best saltwater reel under $150. https://www.alanhawk.com/reviews/bg16.html