Palming is completely up to the individual but for me the 70 feels just a bit better to my hand. I have fished the concepts but haven't fished the 70 yet. In hand the 70 felt more solid but that may be due to the brass gears in the curado vs the aluminum in the concept. If I were to pick one right n...

I had actually been eyeing that one recently. Have you tried it?

I'm heading down to the coast in September and want to take a decently light 2 piece rod for travel that can handle the salt. Last year I just grabbed an old ugly stick catfish rod and threw on my Calcutta 400 which was fine but was heavy and not comfortable for casting and working lures. This year ...

I've heard both good and bad stories of magnesium reels in the salt so I would err on the side of caution and keep the mag reels away. The sol is aluminum and should fit the bill just fine. Is the steez zaion? If so that would handle the salt as well. You could grab an OG zillion or sv103 if you wan...

First to Frosty, insulting people's intelligence and or insinuating ones work or lifestyle is not a way to make friends here. You have a masters degree, congrats so do I and so does everyone on my team since it is required in this role along with a whole host of tech certifications. I am the only on...

I have the 8.1 and this particular specimen has been butter smooth. Under load and not. It may not have the power that my 6.3 zillion has but it's every bit as smooth as any other reel I've used sans maybe the new conquest.

Exchange it if possible but if you want to get into it polish the parts of the pinion gear that contact the pinion bearings and add a dab of grease to the surfaces. I've had a few Daiwas with a slight machining edge on the pinion gear that wouldn't allow the pinion to seat correctly with the pressur...

I also have the 8.1 version and it's a fantastic reel. It is smoother and less hollow than the ss sv has a better drag and is a longer caster as well. I can cast an 1/8 oz rooster tail up to a 1/2 oz crankbait on the same rod with 12lb flouro. I did it back to back just to see if it would do it. Tha...

I'd go the alphas sv. I've tested it down to 3 grams and it'll get just as much distance as a pixy with better control. Or alphas air if you want to go down to 2 grams or less.

Yes I've had this happen on a few of my daiwa reels. The pinion gear has a bit of an edge on the surfaces that contact the pinion bearings not allowing the pinion gear to seat all the way just by the pressure of the clutch springs. I polish both the surfaces that touch the bearings with a dremel the...

You are correct the alphas air uses the 32mm spool dimensions of the ss air. The 33mm sv spool doesn't fit in the air but I believe the sv can run the air spool with some spacers.

I've seen a few posts about upgrading to the hedgehog air bfs bearings. how do you know which bearings to upgrade to as in specifications? and how difficult is it to replace the stock bearings? Go to hedgehogs site and they list them reel by reel with the size(s) needed. Difficulty in replacing the...

There is a small plastic spacer that goes in between the spool bearing and spool pin to keep everything from touching. If you put the stock spool back in you'll need to steal it off the ktf spool.

Looks like it's smaller than the 50e from that shot. How does it feel? That 8.2 ratio intrigues me.

Received my reel today, I like it. The spool weight is 8.4g with Air BFS bearing. http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/Scuirus/20160305_152625_zpsmbuifsuf.jpg No idea why the picture is not shown. Excellent should be a killer lightweight caster. I'll have to swap the bearings on my spools to s...