ACTUAL bad experiences with quantum reels 2024

bass wrangler569 reply :

I always see Quantum getting bashed on the forums, primarily for their durability and weight. People always say that they aren't durable, but I have seen few cases where those people sited actual issues that they have had with Quantum reels. I have a couple of the old blue Tour Editions and I love them and I've had no durability problems at all. Now, I fully admit that shimano and a few other companies make better reels than quantum, and I'm not saying that quantum reels are perfect, but I'm interested to know what actual bad experiences people have had with quantums and whether they actually deserve the reputation they have.

burleytog reply :

Had a Quantum spinning reel in the late 90s. Can't remember the model. It lasted about a year and a half with moderate use. The reel developed more slop than an Alabama pig farm.

J Francho reply :

I've had a couple of torqued sideplates (crank side) that put the crankshaft out of alignment, wearing out the roller bearing prematurely.

I had a spinning reel roller bearing completely rust after less than one season. No reason for that - I'm nowhere near salt.

Replacement was through defective return on the baitcasters for credit, and I fixed the spinning reel myself. I have an old IR3 Iron round baitcaster that's got to be at least 13 years old that is better than new.

I'm sure anything from the PT series is worthy, but money spent on anything less has lead to disappointment. I've worked on a few others, and they just do not seem to "wear well."

Oh, and other than the 2009 lineup, they are heavy. So are many other companies, but Quantum seriously lacks a small, lightweight finesse reel.

bilgerat reply :

I have a Quantum Inferno (Made for Dick's) that's about 3 years old.

While I can't really complain about the performance, the finish is crap. The handle looks like a tarnished doorknob in a haunted house and the rest of the body has not held up too well.

CFFF 1.5 reply :

I have an old energy e500 baitcast reel, that has become one of my favorite reels lately. I haven't had any problems with these reels.

auburn bass man reply :

A few years ago I had a Quantum Accurist and I would say that It lasted a little over a year. Out of the box it was butter smooth. After that year had passed though the drag system completely failed as did the braking mechanism. Im not going to bash them because of it because i didn't invest 200 dollars in the reel like I do now. I more than got my moneys worth in my opinion. But for longevity I fish Shimano.

The Next KVD reply :

Had a levelwind quit working properly after an hour of use.

vicdotcom reply :

No problems with my energy pt. I think its a few years old now. Only problem with is was that the ceramic pawl broke once. But that was my fault when cleaning it. Ran perfect for me since I had it. Probably over 200 hours of fishing on it.

20psi reply :

Bought a Quantum Energy PTi10e from Bass pro around may of 08, the new version. I LOVED the way it looked, which is the reason I bought it. Was butter smooth compared to the shakespeare walmart junk I was used to. Only problem was after 3 months the magnetic bail mechanism started to completely fail. The screws that held the bail arm in place became very loose and the bail wire wouldnt kick over all the way and would catch line on casts. Sometimes casts would be normal, sometimes they would get stopped violently mid cast. Lost my favorite, first, and only lucky craft pointer because of it, jolted mid cast and the lure just kept right on going. I tried tightening up the screws, but they just wouldnt stay tight. Took it back to bass pro and the guy there Stan I usually talk to said "I told you so" and hooked me up with a Saros as a direct swap. I dont beat up my reels, I always put a reel cover on when not in use, so it just didnt seem very durable. Also the finish is supposed to be there to protect it and really hard, but it was starting to get chipped and dinged already even with using a reel cover, just from normal use.

I really really liked the reel, I even took a buddy to BPS one day after he used my setup and he bought the same exact reel. Now I feel bad for the guy, I hope he doesnt have problems with it. I'll probably never buy another zebco err I mean quantum again.

Safe to say Im now a shimano guy. Had the saros for 5 months now and its still a dream. Next purchase is a Stradic 2500 for a little extra spool on my Gloomis rod, and need to replace a daiwa megaforce with a curado for my baitcaster and im set hehe.

ghost reply :

I'd hold off on the Stradic FI, there have been problems w/ that reel. I for one had a 2500FI & the bail was sticky & grinding sound while reeling. Brought it back & bought a Saros 3000 & no problems at all. I would look at the new Symetre, but if you want an extra spool, you'll have to buy it from Shimano which will be $30...that's BS!

fathom reply :

my first and last quantums were an iron 4 and a us 600.

after about a year and a half, you could grind folger's in one and maxwell house in the other.

Jimzee reply :

I got burned early on with Quantum. I purchased several 1310's and 1420's and in everyone of them the same thing happened. The anti-reverse pawl quit working on hooksets. This led to one too many bird's nests.

I did purchase a few others after that, the US 300 and the US 600. I have six of these and after cleaning and lubing them up, they have become display reels only. I never had any problems out of the US series, probably because they are modeled after the Shimano Calcutta.

It's Daiwa all the way for me now.

DEbassman17 reply :

I got my first energy pt baitcaster(2008 model not the new one) and it worked great then after about 2 1/2 hours of use tremendous backplay in the handle started to occur > took it back and got another, after about ten minutes that one started making weird noises and backlashing alot, took that back and got a Shimano Citica 200D and i couldn't be happier, needless to say i am now a shimano man and have gotten a curado e7 since them and i absolutely love it ;D

Jason

burleytog reply :

Quote
but if you want an extra spool, you'll have to buy it from Shimano which will be $30...that's BS!

Not to hijack the thread, but what is BS about it?

UBA reply :

After hearing all of the hype about the performance tuned series reels I decided to buy a E600 PT baicasting reel. At first the reel was smooth as could be casted great no problems until after about a month of normal use the gears were grinding and the reel was about as smooth as a coffe grinder. I sent the reel back to quantum to be fixed they sent out a new reel within two weeks. I used the new one for about two months then I noticed the finish on the reel was peeling off. I sent it back explaining to quantum that this is the second reel I've had problems with. Two weeks later I recieved another reel in the mail this time they sent a 860 PTXM which was one higher than the the E600 I had sent in. The 860 was pretty much the same as the E600 it lasted about a year before it starte having problems.

cart7t reply :

I've had some quantum spinning reels and no problems.

Had a Quantum Iron and that thing was great. The finish seemed to come off way too easy though.

Had a very early version accurist. The level wind drive gear broke off a tooth. 3 year old reel and the part was no longer available.

They seem to be an OK reel, my experience in selling them is the finishes on the reels just don't hold up. Their resale value isn't worth squat either.

dman reply :

Sure, all brands will have problems but i think the point is that this company (Quantum) has a lot more problems than the average. ( and from personal experience, i agree)

burleytog reply :

Quantums are the Dodges of the reel world.

BassBandit35 reply :

Every wonder why Bill Dance switched from Dawia to Quantum and Greg Hackney from Shimano to Quantum?

Yeah most people have had a bad experience with Quantum back in the 80's and that left them scars not to try a new one nowadays.

Like I've used Stren for a long time until they introduced Sensor and it cost me lot of good fish in national tournament. Never went back to Stren. The scar remains.

cart7t reply :

Quote
Quantums are the Dodges of the reel world.

cart7t reply :

Quote
Every wonder why Bill Dance switched from Dawia to Quantum and Greg Hackney from Shimano to Quantum?
....

No.

$$$$$$$

Dan: reply :

I handled one after handling a Shimano, does that count? ;D ;D

In all seriousness, I've never owned a Quantum I've just never liked the feel of them.

fatmanslim247 reply :

Quote
Quantums are the Dodges of the reel world.

hey I like dodges and i like quantums, and I haven't had a problem with the quantums yet.... I work on dodges so of course I see them with problems

The_Natural reply :

Your own experiences count the most; internet reviews and responses are good to a degree if it is an item you are unfamiliar with. Everyone in America likes ranch and mustard but I hate them....no matter what others experiences are. That said, it is natural to defend your brand. If you like something...it represents an opinion of yours. Somebody says something bad about a product you like; people take it as an insult....it's insulting a decision you made. I want to tell people not to care what others think, but that would be hypocritical of me. All I can tell you is to keep rockin' the Quantums if they have treated you well, but you won't win on message board threads about reels. I'd just stay away from them. I went to the University of Oklahoma, and any threads pertaining to their football team I just avoid right now. I'll just get ticked and endlessly defend my team.

cbfishalot reply :

Very well said Natural!!!!!!!!!

ChiCityBasser reply :

NIcely Put Natural...

I have a couple of Quantum Spinning reels and haven't had any problems with them at all. I think they are pretty good and so is there customer service as well.

Just my .02

skunked_again reply :

ive never ever had a problem with quantum reels

ive never owned a quantum reel either

grimlin reply :

I have a quantum pt reel and like it.I paid $129 for it.Is it worth $129?Heck No! The paint comes off pretty easy as i got electric tape covering the scratches on mine(Ghetto,i know). ;D The value doesn't hold either.

They are now on sale for $59 and they are definitely worth the $59 for anybody who's looking for a reel in that price range. They packed that sucker with grease when i got it,cleaned off most of it and it works flawless last year.I don't use it much though.

J Francho reply :

Actually, I had an old South Bend push button reel with the same handle. Pfuegers have used them too. The PT was not the first to use reversed threads in order to delete the handle nut. :

I'm sure you like you Zebcos, my nine year old loves his 20 year old 33, but its no reason to go psycho .

Raul reply :

my mistake experience with a Quantum reel dates back to the late 80 's.

- The drag was terrible

- The levelwind assembly stuck

- The line pawl broke after 4 months of use

- Cast control ........ gee, did actually had one ?

- Broken spool bearing after 8 months of use

Not to mention that annoying gear grinding feel as you turned the handle.

You could say, "well that was 20 years ago", but then I would say: "then how come my XLTs Abus are older and they are still in operation ?" ( also got a Bantam Mag 1000 that 's as old and it 's still operational ).

ejtaylor822 reply :

Been using Quantum for several years now. Will admit, they probably do not get as much use as some folks have discussed in here, but, I have had no problems and like them. I use the Energy and PTs.

bass wrangler569 reply :

Well after reading the mass quantity of bad experiences thus far its seems that Quantums, at least in the past, have had some serious issues. I was happy to see that there weren't too many complaints about durability with the tour editions but now I at least can see where all the negativity is coming from. I'm in the process of upgrading my tour editions to curados e7s anyway but I was interested in to hear others experiences because I had no problems with mine. Thanks for all the responses guys

roadwarrior reply :

And that's enough, so let's move on.

Goodnight Irene.

-Kent a.k.a. roadwarrior

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ACTUAL bad experiences with quantum reels 2024

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