Expensive reels and their life span.

[alan whittington]

Originally Posted by flightliner

Alan, just a thought, I have two shimano,s that I have had for a good number of years now and in the last two years have had some repairs carried out on them.
These were done at Billy Clarkes tackle in Sheffield (He has a website) who is a shimano dealer. If the part or repiar is available or possible he will do his utmost to do his best for you-- he,s a top guy.
He may be just the man you,re seeking. Well worth a phone call.

Cheers for that,my concern now is that ive spent around 20 quid on getting it to shimano and back,with no useful outcome,i dont know what parts are needed,if i spend another 20,that'd be 40 towards a newbie,must be honest though mate,ive lost a lot of confidence in the two main companies,not their products,the companies themselves.

[flightliner]

Alan, fully understand your predicament, its a hard call. Back to Billy tho, when I took my reels into the shop his "repairs man" did mine while I waited and he was very proficiant. I think if you spoke to him over the phone and told him of the problem its possible he could put his finger on whats wrong and maybe give you an estimate that you could decide on as to whether it a viable thing to go forward with or not.
Only a call away, best of luck.

[terry m]

Originally Posted by Morespiders

Why are my Mitchells still working after 40odd years, I still use them all the time, have about 12, pus about 30 spools, Yes i do have lots of shimanos to, and use them , but still use my Mitchells for most of my fishing, the trick with any reel is not to use it as a winch
ps
Yes a few of them growl, but a man's reel should growl not purr

One of the reasons is that models remained largely unchanged for years even decades so spares were plentiful and enormous quantities of the same model - eg 300 or 410 were in circulation.

These days we are given new models almost every year and as per the OP the spares support is finite.

[alan whittington]

Originally Posted by terry m

One of the reasons is that models remained largely unchanged for years even decades so spares were plentiful and enormous quantities of the same model - eg 300 or 410 were in circulation.

These days we are given new models almost every year and as per the OP the spares support is finite.

Thats very true Terry,but if a man pays £500+ for a shimano stella reel,there should be spares available,for life,free,they dont tell you when your reel of choice is going out of production,then five years later its dead,poor practice in my book,only me that thinks that badly of it,it seems.

FL,im a bit pi**ed with it at the moment,the major players in the trade have let angling down,big style in my view,but thanks a lot,cos its probably the best call.

[Simon K]

Sounds like a very good reason not to spend £500 on a reel.

I recently replaced my Aeros as one developed a faulty "worm gear" (or was it a worm shaft? ), but had the same story from Shimano. That spare part was now ex-stock.
After 10 years use (original cost £55) I'm not too disheartened.

And I'm more than happy with the new Shimano reels. If I get 10 years out of them, for a similar cost, I'll be pleased.

[alan whittington]

Originally Posted by Simon K

Sounds like a very good reason not to spend £500 on a reel.

I recently replaced my Aeros as one developed a faulty "worm gear" (or was it a worm shaft? ), but had the same story from Shimano. That spare part was now ex-stock.
After 10 years use (original cost £55) I'm not too disheartened.

And I'm more than happy with the new Shimano reels. If I get 10 years out of them, for a similar cost, I'll be pleased.

I agree with all of the above Simon,my stradic at £90 owes me nothing,its a capitalist society out there,i wonder how many stradic's were sold worldwide,quite a few i'd have thought,as most reels are made with USA in mind,i told two friends of mine last night,knowing that they had both purchased daiwa TDX's(one bought a pair),the fella that bought one paid £220,the other £179 apiece,neither were impressed on the company's spares ethic,even though both knew the probable long life of the reels.

[terry m]

Originally Posted by alan whittington

Thats very true Terry,but if a man pays £500+ for a shimano stella reel,there should be spares available,for life,free,they dont tell you when your reel of choice is going out of production,then five years later its dead,poor practice in my book,only me that thinks that badly of it,it seems.

Your point is a fair one Alan, I do not disagree. But my post was purely to illustrate why so many Jurrassic Mitchell reels still abound.

A £500 pound reel should of coure be supported for more than 5 years, but expecting parts availability for life may be setting your expectations a little high? 10 years is more realistic IMO.

[Frank Elson]

I struggled when still at school, to save up the 47/6d for my Mitchell 300... but 50 years later I think I got good value for money.
I do keep thinking I should have it serviced, but as it keeps going it seems a waste of time... and as it is the only reel I have, for float fishing, feeder fishing, barbel, chub, carp and bream I'd be stuck without a reel while it is away.

BTW, all this talk about £500 fishing reels is a wind-up, right ?

[flightliner]

Originally Posted by Frank Elson

I struggled when still at school, to save up the 47/6d for my Mitchell 300... but 50 years later I think I got good value for money.
I do keep thinking I should have it serviced, but as it keeps going it seems a waste of time... and as it is the only reel I have, for float fishing, feeder fishing, barbel, chub, carp and bream I'd be stuck without a reel while it is away.

BTW, all this talk about £500 fishing reels is a wind-up, right ?

No wind up friend, I read on another site of one angler raging about the poor aftercare by the manufacturer of those very reels (the Stella,s).
If its true, its a poor do!.

[sam vimes]

Originally Posted by Frank Elson

BTW, all this talk about £500 fishing reels is a wind-up, right ?

No, there's several reels kicking around at about that price and more. However, why anyone would use, the reel mentioned earlier, a Shimano Stella for coarse fishing, is beyond me.
Here's something of an equivalent from Diawa.