I received this reel as a Christmas gift from my daughter's this year. I've fished it a few times now. I've been slowly phasing out my older round ABUs, which I've used for years. 2 4600c and one 5500c. These have been very good reels, and one 4600c is 23yrs old now. The Lews LFS is very good. Mine is the SS1HA model, and weighs less than 8oz. Very smooth reeling, and a great drag. This one has an aluminum frame, and graphite side plates. Mine has a 6:8:1 retrieve speed, and I can't see ever needing a faster retrieve speed. This reel, spooled with 15lb mono, easily keeps a 3/8 or 1/2 oz buzzbait on the surface with little effort. The thumbar works perfectly, as does the oversize drag knob. Casting action, depending on the lure weight, is very smooth, and consistent on every cast, and all the adjustments are easy to access, and work very well. This is a great reel for the money, and with regular maintenance should last a long time. A bonus with the purchase of this reel is a nice pair of polarized sunglasses, a 40 dollar value. I believe the cost is around 99.00. You may find one for less if you shop around. These days, I'm sometimes amazed at how good some of the mid priced tackle really is. This reel is proof of that. All in all, a great reel for bass fishing.

Back around the first of the year I sent my Calcuttas to be overhauled by @Delaware Valley Tackle excellent job by the way.

 

While my Calcuttas were gone I bought a SS1H 6.8:1 & 2 ea SS1SHA 7.5:1. 

 

Absolutely love em so much I bought a Tournament MB.

2 minutes ago, Catt said:

Back around the first of the year I sent my Calcuttas to be overhauled by @Delaware Valley Tackle excellent job by the way.

 

While my Calcuttas were gone I bought a SS1H 6.8:1 & 2 ea SS1SHA 7.5:1. 

 

Absolutely love em so much I bought a Tournament MB.

I think they're a great reel! I don't see how you could go wrong on these, especially with the price.

Definitely got your use out of the round Abus.  I don't think I have a reel older than a 3rd generation Abu Revo that I'm using routinely.  I like the Tournament MBs, no matter what the Shimano and Daiwa fans on here say.  I haven't used the Speed Spool LFS, though.  

3 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

I think they're a great reel! I don't see how you could go wrong on these, especially with the price.

I got mine for $79 around the holidays. I am always looking for deals as I hate paying full price.

 

Just swapped the grips on mine for the Lew’s combat grips. Like them better than the stock ones

I just sold a LFS and MB together for $160 and was lucky to get it. Point being you can find great deals on Lews pretty much year round.

Me being a Lew's Fan Boi, I approve this thread...

My love for Shimano started back when they worked together with Lew's 

17 minutes ago, Catt said:

My love for Shimano started back when they worked together with Lew's 

Catt the old Speed Spools like Paul Elias used were some great reels. Had a tourney partner that fished em years ago. I think they were Shimano also

Should have said because of the breakup ?