How many of you fellow BR members have upgraded your reel handles to ZPI or Bassart? I was thinking of getting one for my Shimano Chronarch to bling it out, but is it worth the extra cost, was the weight savings worth it? Also, how durable are those cork handles?

i have that in my favs for a "im doing that some day". it might translate to what you want to do.

i bought a set of foam grips and i like them ok. i dont care for cork because when they get shiny they get slick. thats just me though..

I upgrade most of my Daiwas, but not with Bassart or ZPI handles.

I've put TDZ handles on several, and a couple of other aftermarket handles on some.

The upgrade to a 4BB handle is worth it to me. Particularly with moving baits.

The CF handle is good if you want to say, "hey look, I got a carbon fiber handle". That's all it's good for, in my opinion.

For what it's worth, I like the Daiwa cork knobs. Got "em on one reel. I don't like them well enough to pay what they're going for these days.

So, it really depends if spending all that money in bling is worth the sometimes not such great improvement in performance gain, let´s say for example you have a Chronarch 50 Mg, you go for the CF handle, well, you save a couple tenths of an ounce in weight but then adding the weight of the bearings .... you didn´t save the tenth of an ounce in the final run, however man, I don´t think most people are capable of feeling 2 tenths of an ounce weight difference, what´s worth is something that Ghoti mentions, you go from 0 bearings under the knobs to 2/4 bearings and yes, it will be a lot smoother. Chronarchs do have one bearing under ea knob, I swear I feel no difference in smoothness between my Alphas Type F with one bearing under each knob vs my Alphas R Edition with FC handle, cork knobs and 1 bearings under each knob. So the R Edition has the FC handle, it´s 0.2 ounces lighter than the Type F, I swear I can´t feel 0.2 ounces difference in weight. What I can see is that the R Edition does cast a little bit better than the Type F. Cork knobs ? well, they do look good in some reels but not that good in others, they look good in one of my 2005 Pixies but I´m not shure they look so great in the Alphas R Edition, also I´m not so shure the black FC handle looks so great either.

If blinging out your reel is worth it to your eyes then every penny you spend is worth it.

Great thread, I was about to post the samething.

I have thought about getting a CF ZPI handle for my Calais 100A. Not for looks but for length. The handle on the 100A is a little short. Tackle Tour says the handle on the Antares AR is 70mm. I am assuming the Calais 100A handle length is the same as the AR. They upgraded to a 80mm ZPI handle. Japan Tackle has 85mm handles in stock. Darn shame they are so pricey.

They're OK. I've seen some that flex and weaken. Ghoti's plan is one I follow.

I've upgraded a few reels with the 4bb Abu Garcia Revo handles. I think they are about $26 direct from purefishing or I've picked them up on ebay for about $18. Straight handle, aluminum. Part # 1125831. For non ABU reels you may need a nut retainer and screw for an ABU. They go right on the round ABU reels and don't look out of place.

Abu handles definitely won't fit Shimano.

Opps! Didn't see the Shimano part.