http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?action=post;num=1170685886;quote=3;title=PostReply

The Revo may turn out to be the "deal of the year" and a great reel, but Garcia's reputation in recent years is still questionable.

So are you saying that Shimano has never had any bad reels? What am I thinking....this is RW....thats exactly what he's saying!  ;D

You know, I don't spend a lot of time beating up brand names UNLESS I have had a VERY BAD experience with them. My two Abu Garcias did not work for me, at all. What I am concerned about is that at this pricing point, the Revo seems to be a very attractive reel, but for a lot of members it is still an expensive investment. For guys that have been around the block and just want to try "something new" that's fine. If it works out, great! And if it doesn't, so what?

In general, if the purchase is "important" to you, I recommend buying a reel with a solid history. I don't own a Curado, never have, but the general concensus among those that have suggests that this is a reel you would be very happy with and can count on. To me, trying to find a new or gently used "last year's model" Curado just makes more sense.

In all fairness there was a recall of Shimano reels very recently... still waiting to see the Revo recall.

I don't care what people buy... I use both Shimano and Abu (including the Revo) and like both. But I won't hesitate to call a spade a spade.

Seriously though, what's not to like? The Revo has a monster drag, drive train, holds plenty of line only weighs 8.5 oz., casts and retrieves extremely smooth and has a very comfortable profile... and starts at $99. I think that until there is a major trend of failures or some wide ranging recall it would be irresponsible to say it's not a good reel to consider within it's price points.

The Revo may turn out to be the "deal of the year" and a great reel, but Garcia's reputation in recent years is still questionable.

Roadwarrior,

I'd like to respectfully challenge that statement.

How about the recall of Shimano this past year? Does that mean all Shimanos are problematic? Of course not, just as a bad model by Abu doesn't mean that all them were bad. I had a Bantam Mag 10SG in the 80's that wasn't great, does that qualify me to post here that Shimano has a "questionable reputation"? Absolutely not.

To just take yourself and Raul as the sampling for Abu's quality history isn't a sound argument. I bet I've owned as many Abu's as both of you combined. (I am only 36 years old, but started baitcasting before age 9) Of the 20+ Abu reels I have owned, I only had trouble with one... which was quickly fixed by the local service center and described as a greased part that wasn't supposed to be greased. Maybe all of my fishing partners, friends and brothers have all been super lucky and just happened to have gotten only good Abu reels... certainly possible- but somehow I think your experience is the rarer of the two.

Come on guys, Abu and Shimano should be like peanutbutter and jelly!!  They CAN live side by side in harmony!   ;D

Come on guys, Abu and Shimano should be like peanutbutter and jelly!! They CAN live side by side in harmony! ;D

Oh no... another one of those d*mn liberal pacifists!

There is 1 other Revo reel that you could look at. It is a Cabela's exclusive called the Revo SC. Pretty much the same as the SX but with 8 bearings instead of 10, and it is red and $20 cheaper. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0042976121669a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=revo&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=revo&noImage=0

Come on guys, Abu and Shimano should be like peanutbutter and jelly!! They CAN live side by side in harmony! ;D

Oh no... another one of those d*mn liberal pacifists!

Not a chance steve, I'm one of the most uptight conservatives on the entire forum!  

I have several 5500's and 5000's that I've used for 10- 15 years with one or two minor problems that I fixed myself in about 5 minutes.Abu Garcia reels last as long or longer than many of the more "popular" brands.I know this first hand.As for the Revo,I've played with one at the local SG store,and it sure feels sweet to me.I'll be buying several of them really soon.

Have I said anything bad about round Abu baitcasters ?.......has anybody ever heard me saying something bad about round Abu baitcasters ? ........ I don 't think I 've ever said anything bad about Abu round baitcasters, what do round Abu baitcaster have to do with Abu 's low profile baitcasters ? why when somebody says something bad about Abu they automatically bring up their 4500, 4600, 5500, 5600 which brings me again to ask, when have I said something bad about Abu 's ROUND baitcasters ?

What I don 't like about Abu round baitcasters doesn 't cloud my opinion on them, they are good reels, ( any reel that can take my compadre 's rough hand handling sure is one durable reel ) but the same does not apply to Abu 's low profile reels after they discontinued the XLT line, after that line Abu took a face dive from the ugly tree pretty fast, and I 'm not talking like if I don 't know it but because in fact I 've owned the Black Max, Torno and EON, my experience with them is by far satisfactory.

In my country there 's an old say: "El que se quema con atole hasta al jocoque le sopla" meaning that once burnt you never want to get burned again, since I had such a good experience with the XLT line I went ahead and purchased a couple of Black Max.....just to get burned, ah no but Abu makes good stuff, got the Torno .... same thing happened, but I 'm a pretty stubborn SOB so I got the EON, thank you Abu not no thank you, never again will I purchase an Abu reel no matter how much somebody says pretty things about it.

You want to jump on the Revo wagon ? go ahead, it 's you money not mine, mine got burned 3 times in the past, not any more.

Would it help if it had some fancy Japanese name or if you could put a Japanese replacement handle on it? Maybe take away 4 or 5 bearings? Would that help?  ;D  ;D

I wasn't referring to anyone bashing round Abu Garcias.Never even read your post to be honest.I just know that Abu Garcia reels are durable and wanted to make a comment about it.I'll take that chance on a Revo because you're right,it is my money.

For many years Abu was THE reel, then, suddenly around 1987-88 they began manufacturing pretty lousy reels, they switched from aluminum frame to graphite frame, graphite sideplates, lots of plastic, less quality while keeping the price, let 's hope for you guys buying their new Revo line that they really worked out trying to gain again the position it had.

Me ? no longer will purchase any Abu reel, Shimano and Daiwa have better stuff now.

And yes, I do own Abu reels, that 's why I say that they fell face down from the ugly tree.

Raul,

Sorry for the confusion, but this was the post you were quoted from. There was no mention of round or low profile, so no way for us to know if you meant one or the other.

A serious question if I may-  when did you last purchase an Abu reel and which models do you own?  1987-'88 is a LONG time ago...

The only Garcias left in my arsenal are: Abu 521 XLT plus, Abu XLT plus, Abu 521 XLT plus Special Conmemorative Edition and a Cardinal Ultracast, bought between 1985-1986 ( except the special edition ) all the rest were either sold or given away, the only one I regret selling was a XLT Plus Scynchro but since it was sold to a very good friend of mine the guilt has faded away.

The last time I purchased an Abu was less than a year ago, the Special edition, before that I purchased an EON and a Torno ( 2 years ago ), dissapointing experience, should have purchased old Curados instead.