Introduction: It's been some time since we took a look over our northern borders at the product our friends up at Rapala Canada are making. In fact, we've had some of their Concept Ti rods for some time, but have held back on reviews for these sticks because they were changing nano-resin suppliers. Now that this has been straightened out, and the line remains intact, we're happy to share our findings on these sticks with everyone. Here now is our first look at the series, presenting Rapala Canada's Concept Ti NT85SP72ML1 (Spin 72).
The Concept rods, as well as the previously reviewed Shift baitcaster reel (and the Shift spinning reel) are no longer just CDM. Rapala USA now offers them: http://www.rapala.com/rapala/rods-and-reels/?id=1
The Concept rods look sweet; I'm glad they will be an option here.
It's a shame that the person writing the description of the Shift reels on Rapala's website seems to understand little about reel spools. The spinning reel is said to have "Large Arbor Spool Design for Increased Casting Distance and Line Capacity," though a large arbor (core) decreases line capacity. The casting reel spool is described as a "Lightweight, High-inertia Aluminum V-Spool," though lowering a spool's weight decreases its inertia.
The smaller of the two spinning reels, a 25 size, weighs a whopping 10.1 oz. They won't sell many of those in the U.S. at the list price of $199.99. Must have been designed for North Country anglers using braid for pike and lake trout. The baitcast reels are impressively light, though, at just over 6 ounces, and manage to incorporate 13 ball bearings.
Garfisher wrote:The Concept rods, as well as the previously reviewed Shift baitcaster reel (and the Shift spinning reel) are no longer just CDM. Rapala USA now offers them: http://www.rapala.com/rapala/rods-and-reels/?id=1