Newbie question (sorry in advance)

[alanmacias541]

Good evening,

Hope everyone is safe during these scary times!

So I've been purchasing shallow spools for my reels. I've been popping them in and using them.

Question: do I have to change the reel's bearings upon changing the spool? What are the pros and cons of keeping the stock bearings vis a vis changing them?

Some of the reels do seem a little noisier now.

The reels in question:

Shimano 50 chronarch, curado and scorpion with shallow honeycomb avail spools.

16 Aldebaran bfs with avail microcast

There are others but let's start with these.

Thanks in advance!

[BRONZEBACK32]

If you want the full benefits then I would recommend some HH air bearings.

[Hogsticker2]

My opinion is no. I'd definitely recommend running the same bearings on both sides of the spool. I've found bearing upgrades are good for casting lighter baits. They can also casting easier, as in achieving the same results, with less input from the angler. Both Shimano and Daiwa utilize good bearings imo. Some aftermarket bearings are definitely better than others.

[alanmacias541]

Thank yall for the input. I ordered some bfs bearings to try out. I'll see how it goes.

[Aquaftm45]

I'd definitely recommend running the same bearings on both sides of the spool.

I would generally agree with this statement (and the others that you made), but I have been testing a theory recently which I think is accurate in the scenerio I'll describe. I utilize this out of convienince more than anything.
I have a Steez CT SV that I frequently swap spools between the stock and a KTF. On the KTF I run IXA Micro which comes stock. I run a IXA Micro on the sideplate to compliment the bearing on that spool. When swapping in the stock CT SV spool(which has a ZPI bearing), I find no reason to change out the IXA Micro on the sideplate.
Why? The ZPI on the CT SV spool is the dominant bearing. The IXA micro in the sideplate will do whatever the ZPI tells it to because the IXA micro is a lower inertia bearing(it will start-stop and carry the same inertia as the ZPI, just as if I had a ZPI in the sideplate)
Just my theory, which seems to test out well. (I ran a ZPI on both sides for an extended amount of time with the CT SV spool)

Welcome any thoughts.