I just ordered a Stradic FM 2500 shallow spool on Amazon. Got it for $168. Gonna put it on a 7’0” M Expride

 

Anyone else have this reel? I’ve heard some mixed reviews on it on Reddit. Never owned a Stradic but I’ve had a Sustain and Vanfords before

I have the c3000xg and absolutely love it. I'm using mine inshore, and while I'm yet to hook anything large while using it, it's handled speckled trout and slot redfish with ease so far.  

I've had the FK, CI4+ and Vanford in the past, and also have an FL still atm and the FM is my favourite so far. 

In Vanford, you have owned Stradic, because there's no internal differences - the only differences are frame and rotor.  

 

'18 Stella and the worm-drive series that ended in '21 Excense, including Stradic FL, had major design changes from the previous Shimano-worm-drive series (including Sustain) - A/R clutch, gears, and spindles - the upgrades pushed the reels to higher drag tolerance/ crank load.  

 

With '22 Stella series including Stradic FM, they were confident these reels were over-designed, the only design change they made was slight increase in spindle length/ spool pitch.  They may have found their limit, with literally a few registered complaints on gear wear.  Keep in mind these could be people running their reels at very high drag setting.  

I think you'll be very happy with your reel - 3 of my friends love theirs - one fishes inshore several times/wk and double-digit redfish count most every outing.  

Keep us posted.  

A buddy of mine works at TD and he's had more than few people come back with some issues on FM.  2 are guides, 1 I personally know 1 very well and hes not prone to unreasonable abuse.  He runs a those smaller reels 3 and 4k stradics to make topwater and soft plastic striper fishing more fun, also uses them for fluke, but the reels that had shafts bend happened almost immediately.  It wasn't all the reels, 2 out of 6 FMs that replaced older FKs.  It doesn't seem to effect all of the reels, but it's enough to make note.  

Reel came in yesterday and it looks/feels great. Pretty much just feels like a beefier Vanford. Guess that’s what it technically is lol