In spinning I own:

St. Croix Avid ($100) Shimano Clarus ($79) & Fenwick HMG ($50)

In casting I own:

Shimano Convergence(normal retail), Shimano Compre ($49) & Fenwick HMG ($65$).

I like my Avid but don't see it being all that special, especially for the price.

Ditto for my Clarus it is nice but I honestly like my Compre better especially for the $ diff.

My favorite by far is my Compre with my HMG's a close second.

I put the prices that I remember buying these at. All were purchased brand new.

Knowing what I know now I would have bought as many of the Compre's & Fenwicks as I could. If I find anything close to those prices again I will replace what I have.

I have a Clarus.  It is a nice rod, but nothing special.  I just picked up an Avid and a BPS CarbonLite.  The Avid is well out of this price range, at least new.  The CarbonLite feels very, very nice.  I can't give is a wholehearted thumbs up yet, as I haven't fished it yet, but for the $89 I paid for it, it feels like a quality rod, and much better than my Clarus. 

Powell diesel for $70 is hard to beat.

 

Agreed. Just picked up two more on sale at a local Tackle Shop this weekend. I'm up to 4 Diesels now (2 - 723CEFs, 1 705CB, 1 6103MEF).

Quality rods and easy on the wallet!

IMO nothign touches the *** *** Black line. 

 

After that my fav 100 dollar rod would be the BPS carbonlite. 

IMO nothign touches the *** *** Black line.

After that my fav 100 dollar rod would be the BPS carbonlite.

I own a Powell diesel and while I like it a lot, I would spend the extra 30 and grab a *** *** black. The blanks on the compre just feel... dead to me.

I have a few Mojo's as well and like them.

Best thing to do is find the rods, mount your reel and see which feels best.

The Veritas line is a bit stiff for trebles, unless you buy the winch.