I have a St. Croix Rage casting rod on which I have always used fluorocarbon as my mainline. However, I recently have become frustrated with the handling of the fluorocarbon so I am considering switching to braid as my mainline with a flouro leader. My concern is that the Rage has Pac Bay Minima guides which are steel and have no inserts. St. Croix says that they will not groove when used with braided line, however, I am not sure if I can fully trust the manufacturer. Does anyone have experience using braid with the Rage series or other rods using Pac Bay Minima's? I would really like to know if I can trust the guides to hold up to braid?

I have three rage rods, all have reels with braid and zero have any grooving issues after i think 2 or maybe 3 seasons, i forget when i actually bought them lol 

I had a rage rod for one season, you will not have any problems using braid. 

Awesome! That is exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks!

Go for at least 8 carrier braid for smoothness and quieter operation, Smackdown-PPS8S- 832 etc

I had a rage rod for one season, you will not have any problems using braid. 

Same here. But..................I didn't care for how small the guides were, but they held up to braid just fine. In fact the el-cheapo  stainless steel guides on low end Fenwicks and rods like the regular Berkley Lightning rod have been some of the most trouble free guides I have ever used. No inserts to pop out, and never had one groove with braid. I have had multiple $250+ St Croix LTB's that have " better guides" with inserts that fall out, and/or crack.

The Minima4 (double swaged) guides are a favotite among lots of rod builders. Use them with confidence with whatever your preferred line is. 

St. Croix wouldn't tell you that you can use braid with their rod when you can't, nor do I think they'd build one that you couldn't use any line you wanted to. Besides, if you ever do have an issue they have one of the best warranties/customer service in the business!

If you ever have grooving on those guides because of braid, send it back to St Croix and they'll take care of you.

I fished braid on a lightning rod (circa 1994) for several years without issue

the Rage will be fine

I fished braid on a lightning rod (circa 1994) for several years without issue

the Rage will be fine

Haha.... Mines still going strong. Still have mine with 15lb braid on reel and never an issue. That rod takes almost every trip with me and always gets a dozen or so casts. Never has failed me or given up. Mine is from around the same time. When I graduated HS.