BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

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Shadowcaster1969
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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by Shadowcaster1969 » Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:40 pm

Thanks for sharing! :)

Did you guys maintain with the 2x Centrifugal brakes cast control system for your lighter spool? Or did you upgrade to the megnatic cast control system that AMO offeres?
The AMO magnetic cast control module looks rather neat : http://www.momostudio.net/teamview_5495419.html

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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by Dalleinf » Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:37 pm

4601:
I use the 6-pin brakes (2 on) in combination with the AMO mag brake. Or just the centrifugal brake alone.

1601:
I use standard 2-arm and avail 4-arm brake with avail tiny-size brake blocks. I have mag brake incoming.

Shadowcaster1969
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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by Shadowcaster1969 » Tue Jul 27, 2021 6:58 am

Following the advise from the good folks on this thread, here is how my Aby 2500C had turned out :

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The 7 components that I had upgraded are as follow :
1. AMO CNC Machined ventilated spool,
2. Valley Hill Two Ball Bearings Worm gear,
3. Valley Hill Cog Wheel with Two Ball Bearings,
4. AMO Polished cold forged Titanium handle, with gold trimming,
5. Two hand turn Teak wood handle knobs with two ball bearings each,
6. Avail light weight gold anodized aluminum level wind,
7. Spool bearings upgraded to ZPI ceramic.

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AMO did not have a reel frame in the color I was looking for, so I guess that'll have to wait...

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I'm matching the reel to a vintage Abu Zoom Safari rod, a modern graphite reproduction done up by a Japanese JDM tackle house.

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I'm loading it up with 6lb braid as we speak, and will try casting some 5g and 4g minnow with it tomorrow. :)

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Thanks again for all your sharing and advises! Much appreciated!

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jvelth74
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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by jvelth74 » Wed Jul 28, 2021 6:00 am

Nice! Hoping that you will enjoy fishing with this nice little reel!

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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by Dalleinf » Wed Jul 28, 2021 6:31 am

Very nice. =D> =D>

Shadowcaster1969
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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by Shadowcaster1969 » Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:38 pm

The reel cast and fish magically... :D

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Brings back a lot of childhood memories when I used to fish with a similar reel as a child.

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kakaryan
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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by kakaryan » Sat Aug 07, 2021 12:01 pm

The problem with Abu and any of those old school reels such as Isuzu for baitfinesse is their non-disengaged levelwind. No matter how well you tune it by adding bearings here and there it is still adding some start up inertia and the most important thing in casting tiny baits is to get the start up inertia low, that's why you want light weight, shallow spool, light oil, small balls bearings, etc....

IMO those old school reels are fine for 7g and above, perfect. Baitfinesse? They can, but not ideal. Get those modern reels eg Conquest bfs。。。。

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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by jvelth74 » Sat Aug 07, 2021 1:59 pm

It's high ratio gears in level wind. And Worm gear is thin. Inertia of rolling parts is not too high. But level wind itself losts basically all of its energy in every turn. (When level wind direction changes, kinetic energy of it generates spool speed and after that level wind is accelerated again by spool and lure kinetic energy. But efficiency of level wind gears is poor.)

But yes, for lightest lures baitcasting reel inertia must be as low as possible because in the other case spool just don't start to rotate as it should.

I love the feel and look of 2500 C's. But those BFS tune up is expensive so are the 2500 C's today.

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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by Shadowcaster1969 » Sat Aug 07, 2021 6:14 pm

I think no one can disagree that reels like the classic Abu with synchro level wind would bleed more energy, and thus get shorter casting distance as compared to identical reels with level wind that disengages. It's just physics.

But over the last 2 weeks, I've managed to tune the Abu 2500c to consistently cast down to a 3.5g lure (a classic Rapala CD3 and mini fat Rap 3) to a distance of up to ~20m (~60ft) on 6lb braided line. It was delicate and tedious work, and not to mention that those tune-up parts were expensive. Incidentally the main challenge was not to overcome the start up moment of inertial, but to tune, lubricate and polish the centrifugal brake and the brake surface appropriately. I'm on the lookout for a classic Rapala CD1, weighing in at 2.5g to see what type of casting distance I can get. :D The lowest weight that I've cast successfully so far was also 2.5g but it was a 2g jig head with a 3/4inch rubber grub, but that's not exactly a classic lure so it does not count...

Notwithstanding the above challenges, getting the nostalgic feeling of a casting a classic Abu was simply priceless for me personally.

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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by LowRange » Sat Aug 07, 2021 6:54 pm

It's the journey not the destination with these reels. Bought one myself to tune up in my own style just for that reason. I enjoy it.

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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by SSS » Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:49 pm

Never understood why people bother tuning a heavy, bulky and uncomfy tractor that are the round reel abu's. I would get anything over one.

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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by kakaryan » Sun Aug 08, 2021 5:50 am

SSS wrote:
Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:49 pm
Never understood why people bother tuning a heavy, bulky and uncomfy tractor that are the round reel abu's. I would get anything over one.
We all bother ourselves to kill some time and get some fun. :lol:

Same as in baitfinesse, it is always easier to cast tiny baits further with a spinning setup. :lol: :lol:

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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by tincanary » Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:43 am

SSS wrote:
Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:49 pm
Never understood why people bother tuning a heavy, bulky and uncomfy tractor that are the round reel abu's. I would get anything over one.
It's a great tool for learning the trade of reel repair and modification due to its simplicity. Every single baitcast reel on shelves today can trace its roots to the Ambassadeur. The Ambassadeur was the first mainstream reel with a pinion yoke and the first to use a centrifugal brake as we know it now. ABU held many patents until the late 60s. This is why many baitcast reels of the era were either knuckle busters or used an eccentric lever to disengage the spool. Once those patents expired, it enabled competitors to improve on the design put forth by ABU, and now we have a plethora of options to choose from today. There really have been no revolutionary baitcast reels since the Ambassadeur was released in 1952. Everything else has been evolutionary, continuous improvement of an old design which is still used to this day.

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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by SSS » Sun Aug 08, 2021 5:31 pm

tincanary wrote:
Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:43 am
SSS wrote:
Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:49 pm
Never understood why people bother tuning a heavy, bulky and uncomfy tractor that are the round reel abu's. I would get anything over one.
It's a great tool for learning the trade of reel repair and modification due to its simplicity. Every single baitcast reel on shelves today can trace its roots to the Ambassadeur. The Ambassadeur was the first mainstream reel with a pinion yoke and the first to use a centrifugal brake as we know it now. ABU held many patents until the late 60s. This is why many baitcast reels of the era were either knuckle busters or used an eccentric lever to disengage the spool. Once those patents expired, it enabled competitors to improve on the design put forth by ABU, and now we have a plethora of options to choose from today. There really have been no revolutionary baitcast reels since the Ambassadeur was released in 1952. Everything else has been evolutionary, continuous improvement of an old design which is still used to this day.
I don't disagree with what you're saying. My problem with it is that the modifications are expensive, and the end result is not gonna beat a modded alphas or whichever low profile reel you want to tune. Its also very heavy, bulky and just not comfy to palm. When using BFS, i personally expect it to be as comfy as it gets when it comes to baitcasters.

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Re: BFS Reel option : New Conquest BFS? Or tune up my Abu 2500C?

Post by LowRange » Sun Aug 08, 2021 5:38 pm

SSS wrote:
Sun Aug 08, 2021 5:31 pm
tincanary wrote:
Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:43 am
SSS wrote:
Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:49 pm
Never understood why people bother tuning a heavy, bulky and uncomfy tractor that are the round reel abu's. I would get anything over one.
It's a great tool for learning the trade of reel repair and modification due to its simplicity. Every single baitcast reel on shelves today can trace its roots to the Ambassadeur. The Ambassadeur was the first mainstream reel with a pinion yoke and the first to use a centrifugal brake as we know it now. ABU held many patents until the late 60s. This is why many baitcast reels of the era were either knuckle busters or used an eccentric lever to disengage the spool. Once those patents expired, it enabled competitors to improve on the design put forth by ABU, and now we have a plethora of options to choose from today. There really have been no revolutionary baitcast reels since the Ambassadeur was released in 1952. Everything else has been evolutionary, continuous improvement of an old design which is still used to this day.
I don't disagree with what you're saying. My problem with it is that the modifications are expensive, and the end result is not gonna beat a modded alphas or whichever low profile reel you want to tune. Its also very heavy, bulky and just not comfy to palm. When using BFS, i personally expect it to be as comfy as it gets when it comes to baitcasters.
Same reason people modify an old car at the cost or greater of a new one. You could buy a modern Mustang GT or mod the heck out of a 1969 fast back.

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