Why are Lews and now Abu both coming out with graphite framed reels over $100? Is the graphite framed reel technology gotten any better to not flex anymore? I tried the lews mach crush 2 and was disappointed in it. Now I see Abu has one for $179!!

I was wondering this myself because my local Walmart has the Mach 1 combo from lews for $97.00 and after playing with one for a few mins it seems like a great deal. I’ve been told to stay away from the graphite framed and stick to aluminum so I am curious as to whether or not it is a good deal.

If you have to ask.................

I still have a Daiwa T3 1016 that's made of zaion. Probably 5 years old and it has never flexed once. Just depends on the quality of the manufacturer and the materials they use. 

I think the main reason is weight reduction. I've fished some graphite frame reels, with no problems. Aluminum frame reels are probably sturdier, but a graphite frame reel is fine for freshwater bass fishing.

2 hours ago, BassCats said:

 Is the graphite framed reel technology gotten any better to not flex anymore? 

Maybe.

 

https://www.toyotanso.com/Products/Special_graphite/

 

That being said I prefer aluminum framed reels. I have the Mach Crush (Got the combo for $100 on sale) and it is not a $160 reel IMO. It’s not a bad reel. It Looks good, casts fantastic, nice dual braking system, but feels like plastic. You pay for the pretty paint job and the oversized Winn Grip knobs. I would never buy one at full price.

2 hours ago, NavyVet1204 said:

I was wondering this myself because my local Walmart has the Mach 1 combo from lews for $97.00 and after playing with one for a few mins it seems like a great deal. I’ve been told to stay away from the graphite framed and stick to aluminum so I am curious as to whether or not it is a good deal.

I have the first generation Mach I baitcaster combo. The reel reminds me of the tournament mb just made out of graphite instead of aluminum. 

Same reason the CG80 costs as much as the much better Fuego CT ... profit margin

8 minutes ago, garroyo130 said:

Same reason the CG80 costs as much as the much better Fuego CT ... profit margin

Not to get off topic but lews has done a really amazing marketing job with all these orange, green, white, etc reels. Much better than 13 has. The margins on these reels is through the roof and the younger crowd can’t get enough of them. Every other high schooler I see has a colored lews reel in their hand 

4 minutes ago, GReb said:

Not to get off topic but lews has done a really amazing marketing job with all these orange, green, white, etc reels. Much better than 13 has. The margins on these reels is through the roof and the younger crowd can’t get enough of them. Every other high schooler I see has a colored lews reel in their hand 

Some old schoolers as well ?

Surprised for the hate on the crush. That thing is the best casting reel I have, distance and backlash control. Also have a abu stx, sx, and daiwa viento, and the crush is my favorite. The viento is a great real though, doesn't cast as far as I would like, but barely need to use your thumb when casting, wish I would have bought 5 more when they were 80 bucks years ago.

I started on the Silver Max years ago and still use one. I've never had a problem with the graphite frame.

 

When I was a teenager I used to play Magic: The Gathering. Some guys had $600+ decks and each of the cards was in absolutely perfect condition. They wouldn't touch a card that had even the slightest dinged corner, regardless of the fact that it "played" just the same as the same card in perfect condition. 

 

Moral of the story? Some guys are just happy to fish and won't find a problem with most things. Other guys have too much money to spend and will notice a slightly dinged corner of a card and refuse to touch it regardless of functionality.

1 hour ago, garroyo130 said:

Same reason the CG80 costs as much as the much better Fuego CT ... profit margin

Dunno where you're seeing that - most places have the CG-80 at well under the Fuego. The CA-80 on the otherhand is near the Fuego in price...but as it's also an aluminum frame it's understandable.

 

Of my three BCs, two are Fuegos and one is a Supreme - all aluminum frame. My President and President-XT are both graphite frame reels but I haven't noticed any problems with them.

3 hours ago, cgolf said:

Surprised for the hate on the crush. That thing is the best casting reel I have, distance and backlash control. Also have a abu stx, sx, and daiwa viento, and the crush is my favorite. The viento is a great real though, doesn't cast as far as I would like, but barely need to use your thumb when casting, wish I would have bought 5 more when they were 80 bucks years ago.

I wasn’t hating. It is one of the farthest casting reels I own. It is virtually backlash free when the dual brakes are set correctly.

 

I do not feel this reel warrants a MSP of $160 though. It feels like plastic, is noisy and not as smooth as my other Lew’s reels. 

2 hours ago, Glaucus said:

I started on the Silver Max years ago and still use one. I've never had a problem with the graphite frame.

 

When I was a teenager I used to play Magic: The Gathering. Some guys had $600+ decks and each of the cards was in absolutely perfect condition. They wouldn't touch a card that had even the slightest dinged corner, regardless of the fact that it "played" just the same as the same card in perfect condition. 

 

Moral of the story? Some guys are just happy to fish and won't find a problem with most things. Other guys have too much money to spend and will notice a slightly dinged corner of a card and refuse to touch it regardless of functionality.

I needed black bordered cards. The white ones got dirty and dingy looking...

5 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

I wasn’t hating. It is one of the farthest casting reels I own. It is virtually backlash free when the dual brakes are set correctly.

 

I do not feel this reel warrants a MSP of $160 though. It feels like plastic, is noisy and not as smooth as my other Lew’s reels. 

I needed black bordered cards. The white ones got dirty and dingy looking...

I used sleeves lol

15 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

I needed black bordered cards. The white ones got dirty and dingy looking...

 

9 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

I used sleeves lol

Wife and used sleeves too - until we decided that MtG wasn't our thing and sold all our cards, including 1st Edition. When all was said and done, we sold them for more than we had paid...by a fair amount.

Please do not bring up MtG, I still have painful memories of trading away like two shoeboxes full of first edition cards for a trivially small amount of pot when I was my very early 20s.

 

The Internet was still in its infancy then and as I hadn’t played for years at that point I had no idea that the dumb things are worth actual money. 

3 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

 

Wife and used sleeves too - until we decided that MtG wasn't our thing and sold all our cards, including 1st Edition. When all was said and done, we sold them for more than we had paid...by a fair amount.

I sold my 1st edition land destruction deck complete with mox artifacts and it paid for an all inclusive Caribbean vacation for me and my girlfriend at the time.

Glad you guys brought up mtg. I have several commander decks sitting in my closet As we speak and I haven’t played for awhile....probably time to unload them for fishing stuff!!!

5 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

I wasn’t hating. It is one of the farthest casting reels I own. It is virtually backlash free when the dual brakes are set correctly.

 

I do not feel this reel warrants a MSP of $160 though. It feels like plastic, is noisy and not as smooth as my other Lew’s reels. 

I needed black bordered cards. The white ones got dirty and dingy looking...

I think I paid 130 for my combo, and the rod is pretty nice. Got a nice moderate action that worked well for lipless and square bills. Gonna try it as a jerkbait rod next week. Oddly my crush is quite, either my SX or STX is loud, but smooth. 
 

Best deal I got was with the STX and SX Reels on deep discount I had ordered a Revo S for 50 with them and they sent me a left handed reel instead of a right so I ended up getting that for free, awesome customer service. 

6 hours ago, BaitFinesse said:

Maximum profit.  It is a very cheap way to make a reel.  The more you can charge for one the better.  Bonus if you can get away with some awful linear magnetic braking system in place of the additional cost of a centrifugal or Magforce Z type system.

It's still inferior to magnesium and aluminum.  I own a few T3s and they are awful compared to my other Daiwas.  I love that Magforce Z though.  No way would I have payed what they wanted for them new.  No way.  They're plastic and you can just tell from the way they feel in smoothness and noise.

I had the Daiwa Mag with twitching bar which was a 60 buck reel that gave me tons of problems with the bit that lays the line on the spool evenly. It would get out of sync and click on the side plate. But man that thing casted sweet. Barely needed to use my thumb even casting 1/4 ounce cranks into the wind.

It comes down to the type of composites used, engineering design and molding processing. 

Aluimum has a higher modulus strength and wider yield to ultimate strength then filled plastics. I spent over 30 years researching and engineering parts made from high strength high temperature filled thermoplastic composites to replace aluminum allow parts in aerospace and military weapon systems including ships. The goal was always 2 fold: weight savings and corrosion management. Initial cost is higher but ROI or cost of ownership is lower.

Composites can be very ridgid but brittle. To overcome lower moduluous strength without being brittle is where engineering design and processing comes into play.

Reels have known stress points, it's not rocket science to engineer reel side plates to prevent flexing under the known loads using good engineering and design.

Tom

PS, my composite parts replaced aluminum is military and aerospace applications including commercial aircraft world wide, it's not yesterday's plastic.