I've recently sent 4 of my Bass Pro PQs to a professional reel cleaning service to have them cleaned, lubed and 'pro-tuned.' The guy I sent them to also has a bearing upgrade option with a couple of different options, including ceramic bearings.

I know little to nothing about the insides of my reel and was hoping that someone could fill me in on the benefits of a bearing upgrade and especially the ceramic ones. I'm pretty happy with the performance of my PQ and was hoping that I'll see even more of an improvement with the clean and tune. Will upgraded bearings make the reel last longer or require less maintenance? Will the improvements be noticeable besides the weight? Any input on the cost to upgrade? I don't tournament fish or anything like that, but I like to take care of my gear and would like to make my PQs last as long as possible.

Thanks in advance,

If you're already pleased with the performance of your reels, you're going to be amazed at what a proper clean/degrease and lubing will do. As a matter of fact I think you'll be so pleased that you'll wand to forgo the bearing upgrade all together. In general, factory bearings are of pretty good quality. sure, some manufacturers are better than others but like I said, a clean/lube job is going to make your reels feel like a whole new beast. as far as decreased maintenance, I think you'd have more maintenance with a higher tolerance bearing. reason being is that you'd need to use a lower viscosity oil requiring more frequent oiling. Ceramics are a whole different story. some like to run them shielded, some like to remove the seals, some like to run them dry, some like a light coat of oil. Within the ceramic bearings there are sub categories. there are full ceramics with ceramic balls and races and then there are hybrids with ceramic balls and stainless steel races. I personally dont think that the cost of ceramics are worth the few extra feet of casting difference. I use mostly curados and shimano factory bearings are great bearings as are the pure fishing bearings that your pq's use. Hope this helps.

It depends on how "good" you think you are with a baitcaster. I have had 50Es that had stock flushed barrings that casted GREAT with only 1 break set and 0 spool tension and almost no thumb until the end of the cast.

On the other hand I have a 50 Core that I can set 4 breaks and a lot of spool tension on it and I can still backlash it like a champ!

I am in no way saying not to get the upgrades I'm more or less just rambeling...

If the bearings are in need of replacing it is well worth considering upgrading them. Other than that, the upgrade falls into an "Enthusiast" category, better than stock but needed. The easier casting is much more of an improvement in accuracy than distance which is over rated imo. I do not recommend Super Tuning on any rels other that one piece spool shaft reels which I believe covers the PQs but there may be versions with the other design.

A tighter tolerance bearing should not need any extra maintenance. In fact, I believe the looser tolerance bearing will wear faster due to those looser tolerances.

The guy I sent them to also has a bearing upgrade option with a couple of different options, including ceramic bearings.

I know little to nothing about the insides of my reel and was hoping that someone could fill me in on the benefits of a bearing upgrade and especially the ceramic ones. Will upgraded bearings make the reel last longer or require less maintenance? Will the improvements be noticeable besides the weight? Any input on the cost to upgrade? Thanks in advance,

One thing I have read and still not quite sure about is if/if not ceramic bearings add noise to the reel. I pretty much like my reels to be silent no whine ticks weeee stuff like that. So if this is a concern for you as well maybe look into this issue.