i went to my local academy last night set on buying a new shimano symetre 2500.  well they were out, so i started looking at other options and the stradic caught my eye.

they both have 5 bearings, and the stradic is about $40 more.  

so here is my question, is the stradic that much better than the symetre, and if so how?

thanks in advace

jason

Many of our members have highly praised the Symetre, it's a fine reel. This was my first Shimano and I thought it was a great reel. A few years later I picked up a couple of Stradic which I thought (still think) are tighter and smoother. Although I have given these reels away, all three are still in use 8 & 10 years later!  

I think the Stradic is the "best value" in the Shimano line-up. I HIGHLY recommend this reel.

I like the Stradic, but that wacky knob on the handle is giving me fits.  Thinking about selling both of mine and picking up Symetre 2500's.   :-/

I've two Stradics (2500) and one Symetre (750).  Hard to compare as they are different in size, but I like the Symetre just as well as I do the Stradic with the exception of the knob.

I have both a stradic and symetre 2500 and I must say there is not alot of difference that I can feel in normal use. The stradic may be a tad smoother but not real noticeably so. I don't think you can go wrong either way as they are both fine reels. In the future I will probably go with the symetre when the baitmonkey says I need a new setup. By the way the handle on the symetre 2500 is similar to the one on the stradic 2500, its the same shape but the plastic is a little different (I do like the stradic better in this regard). I also have a symetre 750 and that knob is indeed different as Burley said.

I have gone through the Sahara/Symetre/Stradic line up and think the Symetre 2500 is the best for the money. Agreeing with several, the Stradic is a tad smoother, but I can't see $40 smoother. So my last setup, I opted for the Symetre and put that extra $40 toward a GLoomis 6-6 IMX. Sweet setup for jighead fishing.

I've had both and have been disappointed in the Stradic in that I haven't seen a noticeable improvement in it over the Symetre. In fact, my last spinning reel was another Symetre because of this. I'm not saying the Stradic is a bad reel, just that in my experience the Symetre is very good for the money. I even tried other Stradics at Gander Mtn, and they seemed pretty much like mine, which is no smoother or quieter than a Symetre.

I vote Symetre- best $79 reel ever IMHO.

I own 2 Stradics, but I can't see that they're worth the extra $.

Can't go wrong with either.

 I bought a Symetre 2500 around the first of last year (never owned a Stradic, so can't comment on it). Listening to what the other guys have said, for $40 I would hope to be able to tell a little more difference. I think my Symetre is GREAT...

                                                    As Ever,

                                                     Skillet

I'm basicaly a Daiwa guy, but a couple years ago, when they changed the design I bought the display Symetre at a local store, for $49.95 (just couldn't pass the oportunity ). It was the best deal I ever got. Works as smooth as the day I bought it.

I compared the Stardic and the Symetre at BPS, and I don't think there is any difference besides design (and the right to brag :)

If you want to go out and tell everybody that you got a Stardic, go for it. It's a great reel and will cost you an extra $40. If you want a sturdy, reliable reel to "get-r-done", go with the Symetre.

Just my $.02

I just bought a symetre over the weekend and was very impressed for such an inexpensive reel!

I own both of these reels, and I prefer the Stradic. All of my Stradics are smoother and I can feel a difference when the bite is real light. I feel like a have more sensativity with it. Just my opinion.

M_Fields

YOUR ROD AND LINE SHOULD BE WHERE YOUR SENSITIVITY COMES FROM NOT THE REEL.

I recently bought two Stradics based on everyones help here on BR. I just ended up returning one of them because it felt sluggish right out of the box. Hard to explain, but it was like the gear set was too tight. It was also noisier than the other one, so much for Smooth, Silent and Strong  :-/  I should note that these were bought at two different stores, but you would think that a Stradic is a Stradic, is a Stradic right :-? The other one is smooth as can be. I'm thinking about picking up a Daiwa Tierra as a spare...or maybe a Symetre

YOUR ROD AND LINE SHOULD BE WHERE YOUR SENSITIVITY COMES FROM NOT THE REEL.

I don't like to pounce on people in this forum, but that comment definitely merits a response.  Just to put it simply, if one is taking up line with a reel that has detectable grind, wobble, rubbing, etc. and a fish picks up the bait, wouldn't you agree that a smoother reel would allow one to detect lighter bites and, thus, catch more fish in a scenario such as this?  Rethink what you said and get back to us.

I am in the process of returning [for exchange] a Stradic 4000 to Cabelas [1 month old] as I can feel the gears binding and/or grinding when the line is under tension. I spoke to a Shimano authorized repairman who stated he has been encountering similar problems with some of the high end reels. The repair required the replacement of the gear set. He contacted Shimano who was unaware of any problem with these reels.

The other thing I noticed about this reel with the new spool design was that it appears that the casts are shorter than I experienced with earlier Stradic reels. I have only tried this reel/spool with mono Xt 10lb as I am waiting for my replacement.

I have 8 other Stradic reels in various sizes and do not have a problem with any of them thou they are 1 to 3 years old.

Cephkiller,

That is what I was talking about, the wobble, the grid, and it takes up slack better. The Stradic to me is a smoother reel. Do not get me wrong the Symetre is a good reel.

M_Fields

I disagree cephkiller and m_feilds ya a zebco or a shackspear or however its spelt may grind wobble or rub but ive delt with 4 symetre and two stradics and my brother has 2 symetres that work perfect a friend has a perfect symetre and i have a perfect semetre and a perfect stradic but i also have a very unperfect stradic that has been temp. fixed by shimano (a month later it felt horrible again) and i dnt fish spinning reels alot anymore and if shimano doesnt replace my reel or fix it properly i will never buy shimano again and never look back bc diawa makes a great product.

YOUR ROD AND LINE SHOULD BE WHERE YOUR SENSITIVITY COMES FROM NOT THE REEL.

TOTALY AGRRE!

We are talking Stardic vs Symetre. There are no significant differences in gearing and there are no significant differences in "smoothness".

How could SENSITIVITY  be a factor?

Maybe you paired the Stardic with a high grafit content rod with a fast or X-fast action, spooled it with low srech line, while the Symetre is on a softer rod with limper line on it. That could be a reason not to feel the lure the same with the 2 outfits.

But anyhow, while using a spinning combo you can move the lure continuosly (like small crancbait, grub, light spinnerbait or buzzbait, T-rig,aso) or intermitently( move it a little bit, stop, move it again, stop...) In the first case, the difference betwin the 2 reels  doesn't matter, the bait will be sucked in or not by the bass. In the second case, you move the bait with the rod and then take up the slack with the reel. You feel the bite transmited from lure to line-rod- hand or just line-hand if you have one finger on the line at all times(that is what I do).The reel doesn't interfere.

Just my $0.02

All my reels are very insensitive  :

I can't believe there is any question about this subject.  I'm not debating the merits of Symetre vs. Stradic, there may very well be no detectable difference, however, there is absolutely no question that a smoother reel will help you catch more fish.  NONE.  If it will make you feel better, let's say it's a Zebco vs. a Stella.  My point still stands.  Although the reel is usually not used to work the bait, there are definitely times when you are reeling when a fish strikes.  When this happens, the smoother reel will allow the angler to detect the lightest of bites that would not be noticed with a reel of lesser quality.  If this were not the case, why bother with anything but the cheapest of reels?