I have a couple of baitcasting reels that are a bit geary when cranking. It isn't horrible, but it's enough that I notice it. They both are faithful and haven't offered any trouble.

1 is an Abu Black Max 3, the other a BPS Pro Qualifier 2. They both see regular oil, and occasional grease on the gears. The grease I'm using is some gun grease I had handy. I can tell a minute difference after greasing the gears, but it goes away quick.

Should I get a reel specific grease? Which one?

 

Any other things I can do?

3 hours ago, Bazoo said:

I can tell a minute difference after greasing the gears, but it goes away quick.

Should I get a reel specific grease? Which one?

 

Any other things I can do?

Not really besides a new gear set. Just the nature of the beast, depending on the particular reel, with that particular earlier DOYO geartrain architecture. I've felt them go from relatively smooth to geary after cranking in a 5 pounder through heavy veg and pads with locked down drag. Without the added support of an extended pinion journal into a sideplate bearing, the pinion deforms under heavy loads. Most post 2020 Lew's and some ABUs solved that issue.

like Phish said, not much.  Once they start they stay geary.  For cheaper reels with wide tolerances you can use a heavy grease which then fills some of the gaps but it's only a stopgap.  

In the money you would spend to fix them, you could buy new reels. 

 

The best thing you can do is deep clean every bearing,  including the AR, and oil them. Then clean and add grease to the gear set. It also couldn't hurt to clean the line guide roller, especially the ends that sit in the reel.

Thanks all.

 

I suppose my next question is, how long will they last being geary? Are they at the end of their lives? Or, do they have years of service left, just geary service?

7 minutes ago, Bazoo said:

Thanks all.

 

I suppose my next question is, how long will they last being geary? Are they at the end of their lives? Or, do they have years of service left, just geary service?

Many years of geary service.

2 hours ago, Bazoo said:

Thanks all.

 

I suppose my next question is, how long will they last being geary? Are they at the end of their lives? Or, do they have years of service left, just geary service?

I’ve got a Shimano Bantam Magnumlite that has been geary since the late 80’s. The majority of reels use a mix of helical cut and straight cut gears, and straight cut gears make noise. 
 

As long as you keep them lubricated and clean, they should last virtually forever. I would go with a full synthetic grease on the gears, I find SuperLube hard to beat, but there are plenty of others to suit your preferences.

I use Cal's drag grease on the gears with some success.

I can make my reel feel geary or smooth under load depending on the angle I am holding it at. 

 

Can anyone relate to this or is it just my imagination?

With the technology and materials we have today, reels getting 'geary' should be a thing of the past...at any price point.  

5 hours ago, Bass Junke said:

I can make my reel feel geary or smooth under load depending on the angle I am holding it at. 

 

Can anyone relate to this or is it just my imagination?

Just the tolerances in the reel changing the lash in the gear train. You could spend hours with a set of shims and theoretically get perfect lash and root clearances, or just go to a thicker/thinner lubricant and call it good. 
 

There’s not a reel on the market I am aware of that is entirely helical gears, so you’re going to have some geariness from the straight cut sets. Keep them clean and oiled, that’s the most important thing.

I haven't done anything yet to my reels, but I am planning on doing a detail strip and clean and relube.

What you’re experiencing is completely normal. Regular maintenance will minimize symptoms but not likely eliminate them. There’s no magic product, just use an appropriate lube like you have been. These symptoms are not an indicator of immanent failure either. You’ll be good for a long time. 

The best way to fix geary reels is to buy a daiwa with their new gear design. My zillion 21 has 4 seasons of intense use, haven't even serviced it since last year, and its still 85-90% as smooth as new, and is perfectly silent as well.

@Micro Module Police that certainly is going to be the easiest option... and the most expensive.

Just like Phish said, it’s just the nature of the beast. I’ve got metanium’s that became geary just after a few outings so higher end reels become geary too. I do feel like higher speed reels seem to become geary faster, anyone else relate to that? 

22 hours ago, Bazoo said:

@Micro Module Police that certainly is going to be the easiest option... and the most expensive.

With the tariffs, yes, it's not the $220 for a Zillion like i used to suggest everyone on here. I would go insane if i couldn't order anything here in Canada because the tariffs are out of this world.

On 10/20/2025 at 10:53 PM, Micro Module Police said:

The best way to fix geary reels is to buy a daiwa with their new gear design. My zillion 21 has 4 seasons of intense use, haven't even serviced it since last year, and its still 85-90% as smooth as new, and is perfectly silent as well.

For some, 85-90% as smooth is ''geary''.

11 hours ago, Reel said:

For some, 85-90% as smooth is ''geary''.

I don't believe that. When your reel wasn't that smooth from factory (aldebaran mgl 30 a good example of this), going to 85% of its smoothness might be even more noticeable, but the zillion i have was tuned to 12bb from the steez tw from day one, it's glassy smooth. Bet you if i were to service it, it would be back at being close to new, but was too lazy this year and skipped the cleaning earlier this year.

I'm not sure I understand. What exactly are you saying ? Is it that your reel, when smoothness has degraded 10 to 15 % from the time you got it out from the box, is still smooth enough for you  and smoother then other reels ? 

On 8/25/2025 at 8:27 AM, Bigbox99 said:

Many years of geary service.

you could say, you have many gears of service ahead of you?

I’ve always wondered what lapping compound would do? 

26 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

I’ve always wondered what lapping compound would do? 

I've heard of that being done on some gears that were new and had a factory tick spot.  They added some lapping compound to the grease and ran the reel until the tick was removed then cleaned the gears and added fresh grease.  This was for a defect on a gear giving a tick on the retrieve.  If the gears are just cut in such a way that the mesh feels rough then I don't think you can lapp that out.  

1 hour ago, Bigbox99 said:

I've heard of that being done on some gears that were new and had a factory tick spot.  They added some lapping compound to the grease and ran the reel until the tick was removed then cleaned the gears and added fresh grease.  This was for a defect on a gear giving a tick on the retrieve.  If the gears are just cut in such a way that the mesh feels rough then I don't think you can lapp that out.  

That makes sense. Would be interesting to see what it does, though.  Better? Worse? No difference? On a cheap reel (if you have access to lapping compound ), it might be worth a shot. 
 

Or use it like grease and see what geary really feels like! 😂

Just a guess the gear ratio is 6.3:1 or higher and a lower ratio 5.8:1 or lower resolves the issue. Suggest you buy a crank bait reel!

Tom