Daiwa New Era Cartridge reel for saltwater - opinions?

[Jeroen]

I have heard different things about the Hardy Zane. The reels on the Leichi site (jijijau is another one) are made by manufacturers that make reels for a number of brands. The V8 reel, which you probably mentioned as a Zane copy, has been around as long as the Zane and. I have used one of these reels (retail 150 euros) for a season and was very happy with it.
These reels aren't copies of excisting reels (and if they are, like the click, it is mentioned in the text), they are well made CNC-cut reels that are sold to many smaller rod and reel retailers in Europe and the US. Branded with their name and sometimes cut in different patterns.

[Magnus]

Hi Jeroen

With due respect the V8 copies the body and spool and reel foot of the Zane. For all I care it's a better reel, but it is not a Zane. It is designed to be similar so it sells as a parasite
One UK importer happily (initially) assured me they were the same reel, just he had found the outfit making reels for Hardy. (Hardy outsourced manufacture of the Zane) And of course he was selling his reel at a fraction of the Zane price. They are not the same reels!

The SA clicker is a blatant copy and as you say it's mentioned in the text.
That reads to me as - so nice we had to copy it and sell our similar reels at a fraction of the price Sage dealers charge. Same goes for many of those fly-boxes.

A lot of the reels I see are essentially OEM type products, some are made in China, and they are well enough made. Drag is often a little underwhelming for saltwater purposes. That's very different to making a reel which looks similar and sells because of that.

[Jeroen]

Magnus, isn't that a chicken or egg-story? The V8 has been around for a heck of a long time.
I don't see any harm in it. If you know what you buy it is ok. I'd be interested where the Zane is made, China?
The drag on the V8 I tried was pretty good. Some of the other Chinese CNC-products did lack a bit in that territory.

[Graeme_Hird]

I agree with you though Greame that it is an enigma what justifies the sometimes astronomical pricing of a fly reel.

It's not really an enigma: the price of almost any commodity reflects what the market will pay for it, regardless of its intrinsic value. We - as fly fishermen- expect to pay $300+ for a reasonably decent reel, and therefore, it should not surprise anybody that that happens to be the price we are asked to pay.

Indeed, it's already been shown in this thread that fishermen will mistrust any reel that costs less.

Want to know why fly reels cost so much? It's because we literally want them to cost that much.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Jeroen]

Good point Graeme, example of how the market works: a couple of years ago I was in the store of a rod builder who had some new carp rods in his store, prices at 600 euros each. At my question why these rods were so astronomically expensive (I knew what the blank did retail), he simply said: 'because I sell more rods at this price'..

[Magnus]

Magnus, isn't that a chicken or egg-story? The V8 has been around for a heck of a long time.

No Jeroen, the Zane appeared first

Stella Artois used the slogan 'Reassuringly Expensive' in their UK advertising for years.
The brand, as they were selling it, carried that sense of it being exclusive/premium. Most branding is about those sort of promises.

The other option is products are treated as commodities. This is where I love Wikipedia :

...a class of goods for which there is demand, but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market.[3] A commodity has full or partial fungibility; that is, the market treats it as equivalent or nearly so no matter who produces it. "From the taste of wheat it is not possible to tell who produced it, a Russian serf, a French peasant or an English capitalist.

[Jeroen]

So, what was the Zane then, the chicken or the egg?

where was this clump of gold (Zane) produced?..

[Jeroen]

..Korea, I noticed that there was quite a debate going on about Hardy suggesting (pictures in their brochure) that the Zane was made in England.

[Gallah]

This is all very interesting. But which reel should I buy?

Has anyone had experience with that Allen flyreel that Graeme posted? Would it be suitable for the salt?

http://www.allenflyfishing.com/alpha-ii-reel/

[Gallah]

I just noticed on one online store, they are selling SAGE reels with a "carbon fibre" spare spool, which is about half the price of the normal spare spool.

What's this about? It's a good deal, $$$ wise. Is it quality?

Sorry to ask so many questions. I don't know anything about reels.

[Gallah]

P.S. (Graeme) I just noticed that all the Redington reels, their "drift" model ($99US) and above come with a lifetime warranty.

That's got to be worth something. Surely they wouldn't be making that offer if they were putting out crap.

http://www.redington.com/reels_landing.html

EDIT: hmmm, on reading the fine print, that warranty is perhaps not worth so much. Here is an extract (emphasis my own):

This warranty is limited to repair or replacement of the reel only, and does not cover direct, indirect, consequential, incidental or any other type of damage resulting from the use of the product. This warranty does not cover misuse, neglect, normal wear, fire, theft, loss, or intentional damage.

What does it cover?

[Magnus]

Hi Jeroen

I borrow a TCX and Litespeed reel from Ryan for a fishing trip - I give him back a rod and reel both branded Leichichina.
Should I be surprised when Ryan is not happy?

Gallah
When you ask if a reel is suitable for salt to me that is asking if the reel can resist corrosion, is it well enough anodized and are the parts stainless/plastic - that sort of thing. This doesn't seem to be an issue with that Allen reel. The issues with that reel seem to have been around the drag - that would worry me.

I've handled a smaller version of the Daiwa reel this thread was about - fine for freshwater - tough enough for occasional use in salt.

Neither of those reels would be my first choice as regular salt reels - as backup reels I'd have no problems with either!

Personally, if you are serious about saltwater fishing, reels like Abel and Tibor have earned their reputation for durability and I'd be aiming at a reel in that class. I would accept that anything you get in the meantime is essentially a backup. I'm sure we can add half a dozen other good reel brands to that list btw but in my head those two makers really set the benchmark.

(I have a Tibor Evergades for sale - unused - if that's of any interest )

[Gallah]

Thanks for the advice Magnus. Unfortunately, those reels seem to be well out of my budget, and I suspect the same is true for your unused one.

[Graeme_Hird]

What does the warranty cover? I'd say it's the same as the warranty from most manufacturers in nearly every other field of manufacture, in that, they warranty that the product is free from manufacturing flaws and will work as it was designed to do. Normal wear and tear are not covered, nor is damage from misuse.

Should you get that reel? I don't see why not. It's within your budget, you like the colours, it's as corrosion resistant as any reel worth twice as much and they appear to have resolved the issue they had in the early models (drag not up to scratch). It should tick every box for you, except the one where you want to pay more for it.

Like I said earlier, I wish I'd seen it before I ordered the Sage reels. I would buy it myself because it's cheap enough that I wouldn't cry if it turned out to be a mistake. It would be a complete "backup reel" for the "normal price" of a spare spool.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Gallah]

Graeme, yeah it does look like that warranty isn't actually worth much.