I've been thinking about purchasing a setup for large swimbaits and muskie. I've been doing some research and I have read in some other posts/forums that a Cardiff and a Calcutta are basically both the same frame (in terms of dimensions), the only difference is the quality of the bearings and drag washers. So, by upgrading a Cardiff to abec5 bearings and Carbontex drag washers you can outperform a Calcutta at a cheaper cost. 

 

I was wondering if someone out there can verify if there is any truth to this.

This is a test I performed on both the Calcutta & Cardiff.

 

First let's clairfy some thing, when I did this comparison it was not to establish interchangeability of parts. It was to determine why two reels with similar specifications could have $100 difference in price.

 

Being a manufacturing engineer in the aerospace industry I had access to every nondestructive inspection known and digitizing equiptment capable of finding tolerances to 0.0001".

This data was feed into a computer program that compared the two and found no significant differences other than number of bearings (Calcutta 3+1 & Cardiff 4+1). I'm not sure what process was used to test drag but our data showed the Cardiff lacking by 0.331 lbs.

 

The only real difference is the Cardiff is Die Cast while the Calcutta is Cold Forged, both have the same structural rigidity. Cold Forging requires less machining of final surfaces but the process is more expensive thus the price difference. To farther explain this look at the outer surfaces of the reel frames, the Calcutta is smoother than the Cardiff.

 

That's Cold Forged compared to Die Cast!

 

Reels tested

Calcutta CT100A

Cardiff CDF100A

I agree with Catt, the solid frame makes a difference, however after fishing with both reels for several years the Cardiff is an excellent reel for the price point. I don't believe you need to change the drag disk unless it's needs to be changed, bearings if the are high quality ABEC 5, again optional.

Tom