got a brand new shimano stradic 1000fj and took it apart, the idle gear is now plastic. sad, very sad.

 

 

Well look on the bright side, you could have bought a sustain and been much more disappointed. It has the same idle gear.

I believe Shimano will fully stand behind all 

components of the reel. I was leery of the 

plastic components early on and was assured

that Shimano is confident and behind the 

reel.

 

Bantam1 is a Shimano rep, and a member of

BassResource. You can always send him a PM.

In the grand scheme of things a plastic gear in this application wouldn't be noticed unless you opened it up and looked. Technology and materials have come a long way and plastic isn't necessarily the dirty word it used to be. That gear is not a weak link as far as I've seen in the shop. You still have a nice fishing instrument there to enjoy.