Just a heads up, Tackle Warehouse has the 7'6" MH Powell Diesel on sale for around 60$.  They also have the Powell Diesel 7' MH glass rod for the same price.  I just ordered both of these and from what I have heard they are great rods.

They're $49.99 all the time from TFR. Secondly there is a reason it's an inexpensive rod. 1- being it has no warranty at all and 2- it's not a good representation of what powell rods are in my opinion. I bought three in the beginning and sold every one. Heavy and stiff sums them up.

I'll add that I haven't tried the cranking rods but I did have 2 casting and 1 spinning diesel rods.

Heavy is a relative term. These Powell Diesels are not bad rods at all. For the money, they are pretty darn good. Are the Max and Endurance rods better? Yes. But if you're on a budget and need a decent rod I think you could do worse than the Diesel very easily. I had the 7'2 MH rod and I caught a load of bass and stripers on it throwing a thunderstick....it's an awesome rod for this purpose! It never let me down.