Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

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SSS
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Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by SSS » Fri Jan 13, 2023 8:18 pm

Seven or so years ago, everyone kept talking about these bearing (teh Boca marketing push was strong on youtube), so i purchased two pairs. They felt and sounded exactly like the $8/pair of Chinese bearings from Aliexpress, which was kinda funny to me, and i never even considered their bearings again.

Do you still use them? What's your opinion about their bearings?

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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by dragon1 » Sat Jan 14, 2023 6:01 am

I think with HH having a tiered set of excellent quality bearings that are much less than ZPI and other high end bearings, that Boca got their lunch eaten by HH and companies like "Speed sumpfin", Hawgtech, and others.

Also, bearing upgrades and tuning is not as prevalent and popular as it used to be, IMO, and most bearings replacements I read about now are the ones that are needing to be replaced on new model factory reels.
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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by Johnny A » Sat Jan 14, 2023 6:06 am

If I needed bearing replacements, I’d go with ZPI or similar.

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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by a1712 » Sun Jan 15, 2023 6:09 pm

I use the BOCA Lightnings in 5-Scorpion 70's. Smooth, quiet(I oil them) and good distance. The 5 combos they're in get used a bunch on my electric only lakes. I haven't had any issues with them. Brian.
Are you fishing or aimlessly casting around?

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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by Soardo » Fri Jan 20, 2023 3:01 pm

SSS wrote:
Fri Jan 13, 2023 8:18 pm
Seven or so years ago, everyone kept talking about these bearing (teh Boca marketing push was strong on youtube), so i purchased two pairs. They felt and sounded exactly like the $8/pair of Chinese bearings from Aliexpress, which was kinda funny to me, and i never even considered their bearings again.

Do you still use them? What's your opinion about their bearings?
I have some Bocas and find them to be okay for most applications. As others have noted, my HH and ZPI bearings are overall a touch quieter and smoother.

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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by John2204 » Sat Jan 21, 2023 11:55 pm

I tried them in a few reels 5 or 10 years ago, they were nice, but these days the stock bearings on almost any Daiwa or Shimano reels are going to be just as good as any aftermarket bearings, so it’s not worth it to me

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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by RMCatchNrelease » Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:35 am

I got hammered on FB for stating that reel tuning is a thing of the past. As far as performance, it is most likely not noticable to most anglers. What is noticable, is the sound a set of ZPI ceramics make. The are much louder than stock bearings.

I personally do not see the need to tune a reel anymore. More important, clean them, flush bearings annually, and use a high quality grease and oil.

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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by flipper502 » Tue Jan 24, 2023 12:56 pm

I have a bunch of reels with the orange seals in them from back when it was the thing to do for all your new reel purchases. I haven't bought a set in over 10 years.

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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by Stump jumper » Wed Jan 25, 2023 6:40 am

I do, religiously, but have noticed recently that there was little, if any difference in modern, high dollar reels (over $350 price point). On all my previous ($200-ish) reels, I typically got about a 15ft improvement in casting distance - after brief break in AND removing the orange seals. I do oil mine, with the Boca speed oil.

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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by cadman » Wed Jan 25, 2023 7:56 am

I don't use Boca bearings anymore. I use either Hedge Hog or bearings from Smooth Drag

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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by dragon1 » Wed Jan 25, 2023 3:00 pm

RMCatchNrelease wrote:
Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:35 am
I got hammered on FB for stating that reel tuning is a thing of the past. As far as performance, it is most likely not noticable to most anglers. What is noticable, is the sound a set of ZPI ceramics make. The are much louder than stock bearings.

I personally do not see the need to tune a reel anymore. More important, clean them, flush bearings annually, and use a high quality grease and oil.
ZPI makes a hybrid and SS that are very quiet...among the quietest available. Just be careful of the plastic seal which can be eaten up with certain solvents when cleaning/flushing the bearing.
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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by aqua71 » Wed Jan 25, 2023 5:14 pm

I always found Boca bearings to be noisy (even when oiled), so I never used them. So many other quality choices out there like ZPI and Hedgehog.

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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by Big-Donkey » Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:46 am

As others have mentioned, theres really no need to invest in ceramic bearings anymore. 10+ years ago the bearing wars were becoming a big thing. I was skepical if there was an actual bennefit. Ceramic bearings are noticeably lighter yet a person doesnt notice this difference when a rod/reel are in your hands. The oil Vs. grease debate should be brought in alongside this topic as well. Yes theres a difference but not that noticeable. People have to remember, the reels made today are trying to slow down the spool to prevent backlash. So my question is why invest in bearings and super duper silicone cat piss thats too fast for most reels? The answer, IMHO its not worth it.
Now are there benefits? Of course! As I mentioned before, the ceramic bearings are lighter and therefore much easier to spool up. Meaning if your short casting, flipping, pitching, etc. The bearings have less mass and therefore take less effort to make a cast. If you have a setup that is used specifically for one of these purposes, do it up. Other than that I would stick with stainless steel with metal sides. the rubber seals probably hold water out better but if everything is stainless filled with grease, you really dont have much to be concerned with. Either way, more power to ya. Interested in others view. G

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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by godshippy » Wed Jan 17, 2024 9:08 am

John2204 wrote:
Sat Jan 21, 2023 11:55 pm
I tried them in a few reels 5 or 10 years ago, they were nice, but these days the stock bearings on almost any Daiwa or Shimano reels are going to be just as good as any aftermarket bearings, so it’s not worth it to me
This is pretty much me these days. I did just recently receive 10 sets of hybrid ceramics. I replaced the bearings in all my Daiwa Zillion SV TWs and put those bearings into my older Shimano reels...and my goodness! The bearings they put in new Daiwa reels are leaps better than what came in my Chronarch 100D7s and Curado 50es.

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Re: Do you still use Boca Bearings inside your reels?

Post by tincanary » Mon Jan 22, 2024 6:14 am

I've found some nice ceramic hybrids on AliExpress and liked them enough to order more. I have used Boca in years past and felt they were very noisy and not worth the money. The AE bearings I've been getting are much more quiet and they spin very well. Best of all they run less than $2 each. A 10 pack is cheaper than a pair of Boca Lightning bearings. I've replaced the bearings in all of my small Ambassadeurs with the JZN bearings I found on AE. I even like them more than Hedgehog Air bearings I was running previously. That said, I'm not going to replace the bearings on my JDM stuff as they are plenty good from the factory. Don't fix what isn't broken.

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