I love the Metanium 7.4:1 and am planning on purchasing another one. I prefer the fast pick up of line when froggin and pitchin. What drawback do you see in a 8.5 vs. the 7.4 ? What about the longevity of a higher gear ratio reel vs. a lower ratio? , torque?

Metaniums ( aka Chronarchs ) no matter the series are always very fine reels so durability is a non issue, my oldest Chronarch ( 100 SF or equivalent to the Metanium, the only difference is the color and the spool is coated in the JDM versión ) is reaching it´s second decade, no issues whatsoever.

 

I´ve been thinking about it and I can´t imagine any drawback.

Only drawback I can see is the reel will only excel at frogs & jigs. If that's all your gonna use for then that's great. But, if you want to use it for multiple techniques, that 7:4 metanium will be the better choice...

i have the metanium XG (8.5:1) and i cannot think of any drawback. in fact, after using the 96mm handle on the met XG, the 84mm handles on the met HG (7.4:1) and the plain met (6.2:1) seem downright dinky.

Plus it has that snazzy yellow cast control cap.

Plus it has that snazzy yellow cast control cap.

yes! makes the met XG look absolutely perfect on a megabass orochi XX or a tatula rod

36 IPT is pretty fast. Probably not to helpful for moving baits, but you'd have to be the judge of that for your style of fishing. Longevity is not affected by ratio.