in my Sol for light cranks. is this worth the cost to upgrade?

In a word; no. The Alphas Ai spool holds more line than the Sol's spool, and that extra line will negate any performance gained by the Ai's tuned brake rotor. Take the money you were going to use for the Ai spool and buy some ceramic bearings from Boca Bearings. The Boca 'Orange Seal' bearings are getting rave reviews on TT.

AFAIK, its the same spool, could be wrong there, though -- always covered with line. I have two Sols and an Ito Ai. The best upgrade you can make to your Sol is Carbontex drag, and TD-Z handles and drag star.

AFAIK, its the same spool, could be wrong there, though -- always covered with line. I have two Sols and an Ito Ai. The best upgrade you can make to your Sol is Carbontex drag, and TD-Z handles and drag star.

i understand the drag is touchy but why replace the drag star?

AFAIK, its the same spool, could be wrong there, though -- always covered with line. I have two Sols and an Ito Ai. The best upgrade you can make to your Sol is Carbontex drag, and TD-Z handles and drag star.

They are nearly identical; you can hardly tell that the Sol's spool holds 10yds less line than the Alphas series.  The Alphas Ai 'ito' has a tuned brake rotor that neither the Sol or regular Alphas have.

Thanks.  That might explain why I can actually "spool" my Ito on a cast, and only come close with the Sols.  Personally, they both cast farther than is actually useful for actual fishing situations.  Maybe the bearing upgrade is good for light baits, but I can't see that much improvement over stock using ABEC 5 ceramics.  Just made the reel a little less smooth to me.  The handles technically are lighter, but more "nice to look at."  The whole Aphas/Sol design was a home run.

AFAIK, its the same spool, could be wrong there, though -- always covered with line. I have two Sols and an Ito Ai. The best upgrade you can make to your Sol is Carbontex drag, and TD-Z handles and drag star.

i understand the drag is touchy but why replace the drag star?

The handle and the star go together.  The stock drag isn't that touchy, but the Carbontex is better, and performs better in freezing conditions with a wet set up.