I ordered the new Revo LTZ AE-74 it's due to arrive....when it arrives.
However pulling the trigger still can't get the monkey off my back... Must be King Kong...
So as I am waiting I am speculating. This is my assessment of its make-up so far.
Frame: stated as SW safe and heavier than the LTX (160+g) I assume its the aluminium LT frame. That's good for me since I fish SW a lot and Al frames confer a solid smooth retrieve as it tends to transfer less vibrations than Mg frames.
Spools: Comes with both a 8lb/50m and 8lb/100m spool. So similar capacities to a t3 air and a pixy comparatively
The shallow spool weighs 6.5g not sure if bearing is included but that matters little. It appears identical to the LT/LTX shallow spools and strong enough for braid ( had 10lb on one chasing barra in the past.
It's not as light as the KTF spools the t3 and supertuned alphas d.27 but more rugged.
Bearings: Abu BF-XT bearings looks to be unshielded SS bearings, possible ABEC 5. In my experience finesse micro ball bearings are superior with UL soft plastics and high resistance cranks. Luckily Hedgehog does have "AIR" bearings for this model.
It has 10 bearings as opposed to 9 in the LTX. The LTX had 5 excluding the handle the LT had 6. The difference is a BB support in the palm side levelwind. I believe this this the case with the LTZ and a big win ( the LT despite being cheaper than the LTX was an update and with my earlier supertuned LT it was smoother retrieving under load than the LTX)
Handles: appears to be the same CF handles as the LTX and MGX. However the knobs appears similar if not identical to ZPI BFC light weight knobs! I liked the EVA knobs even at a cost of having them damaged over time, I find shimanos soft knobs to be the. Mose effective, I'll update this once I have used it.
Brakes: This to me is the most intriguing part. With reels that were supertuned for BFS, I found that the brakes were set close to max for magnetic brakes ( Alphas R + MB is finesse) and close to minimum for centrifugal brakes ( Conquest 50s, Ald/mg with shallow spools and centrifugal brakes.) gave the easiest control. In the case of the AE74 it's advertised as having retuned the brakes so that the middle setting is optimised as the standard for light lures with max brake leaning towards casting and minimum leaning to pitching. If this is true this is a great feature as most BFS reels I have used extensively allows little adjustment in one direction). When I have a chance to see the actually magnet alignment it would be of interest to see whether it resembles the LT or the ZPI BFC pro 930 ( Zpi's tuned LTX)
Gear set: the Ae74 is equipped with a 8.0:1 gear ratio retrieving an advertised 83cm per turn. As there are other JDM Revos with 8:1 ratio ( and the LTX ) I don't believe it's a special part for this reel.
Appearance: the LTZ AE74 appears to have a glossy black paint unlike the MGX/LTX matte coating, hence scratches will show up more but the upside is that the gloss coats tend to be most durable on Abu reels. However most importantly of all, gone is that ugly Revo LT yellow/brown color! If loved that LT but hated the color so much...the lengths I went to remove it....
Apart from that, AG placed yellow stripes on it like a modern day Xman and a cut out handle shaft plate resembling the original Morrum AE74. The other personal negative point is the continued use of the standard Abu star drag.
Weight: the AE74 equipped with an Al frame and CF handles is advertised as weighing 163g, the LTX with Mg frame and CF handles 152g, LT with Al frame and Al handle weighs in at 174g. So the AE74 weighing in at the middle is logical. My problem is whether it will balance on a 7'8" 128g inshore BFS rod.
AE-74 moniker: the original AE74 was an Abu Morrum supertuned by ZPI, as this reel was release long before yours truly started angling, I don't know if the AE74 moniker is exclusive to ZPI tunes or its an Abu designation. The only ZPI component I can see is the knobs.
Performance hypothesis: Judging by its spool and bearings it will not be the ultimate performer in super light casting e.g a trout hook with a 1" soft plastic. Superior casting reels that come to mind is the ZPI BFC 732 (Zpi's aldebaran tune with 6.5g spool and micro ball bb), the ZPI BFC 930 pro with its narrowed spool ceramic bb, the KTF Alphas D.27 (if one can be found)and of course the T3 air with its fancy line guide, movable inductor, micro BB, micro gearing and a 5.6 g spool.
What it is however is the combination of the best features in the REVO LT series with dual bearing supported levelwind, SW capable Al frame, a CF handle and possible a dedicated finesse tune. The inclusion of two spools opens up to many possibilities, imagine casting to a school of fish feeding on a bait ball with 35m of 8lb FC only to be spooled. Out comes the "Deep" spool with 125yds of 15lb/26lb true BS PE (*) top shotted with 10m of 20lb leader.... Revenge time! It might even be possible to fit the JDM Revo power crank 5 spool on for even greater capacities.
* possible with my favourite line http://paulusjustfishing.com/catalog.htm#1
In conjunction with a swim bait length BFS salty stage rod I have high expectations of the Revo LTZ AE74 in the sea as well as on the lakes. Whether these expectations are met will be seen as this reel will be put to direct hands on comparisons with several other finesse reels both stock and supertuned.
Stay tuned for the review and comparison.
