Graphite or "Plastic" haters 2024

Seems like all metal or aluminum frame  and metal component parts fans really stand firm when comparing to reels with graphite or "plastic" frames. Or components like the gear attached to the worm gear for that matter.

Has anyone ever had a graphite frame or "plastic" piece fail while bass fishing? Proof would be great; like photos. Catching wipers, stripers, catfish, or muskie while bass fishing doesn't count if that is when it failed.

From a feel aspect,  I myself like the aluminum feel which is why I like OG Zillions and the new Fuego Cts. But have owned $50 to $550 reels and have never had one fail. So I dont see why its that big of a deal other than preference.

I don't care for the fact that I can feel the reel foot flexing on "plastic" reels.  I don't know that one would ever break though.

Plastic frames flex under heavy load, this causes slight misalignment of gears and makes the retrieve grindy and wears the gears down faster.

  On 2/12/2018 at 3:48 AM, bigturtle said:

Plastic frames flex under heavy load, this causes slight misalignment of gears and makes the retrieve grindy and wears the gears down faster.

I don't want to sound rude, but you have felt this? Maybe it's my style, but I can say I never have. I have had a carbon fiber handle flex and delaminate. That's it

If the plastic is strong enough for big game saltwater reels I think it's good enough for bass.

Plastic haters

  On 2/12/2018 at 4:34 AM, Finnz922 said:

I don't want to sound rude, but you have felt this? Maybe it's my style, but I can say I never have. I have had a carbon fiber handle flex and delaminate. That's it

yes, I felt this on T3 as well as chronarch

  On 2/12/2018 at 5:46 AM, bigturtle said:

yes, I felt this on T3 as well as chronarch

well. Okay then. So, what reels do you like/own?

  On 2/12/2018 at 6:00 AM, Finnz922 said:

well. Okay then. So, what reels do you like/own?

ones without a plastic main/gear frame

  On 2/12/2018 at 4:43 AM, Fried Lemons said:

If the plastic is strong enough for big game saltwater reels I think it's good enough for bass.

Thats why all the good saltwater reels have metal bodies, ya? saltiga, stella, penn 3000, even the cheap Daiwa BG has aluminum body

Saltiga has a zaion rotor.

  On 2/12/2018 at 6:13 AM, Fried Lemons said:

Saltiga has a zaion rotor.

when you reel, most of the pressure is where the handle connects to the body, and thats where most flex comes in play, hence its metal.

  On 2/12/2018 at 6:13 AM, Fried Lemons said:

Saltiga has a zaion rotor.

...Sounds like that's from a 1950s science fiction pulp magazine...

Carbon/Graphite fiber infused plastic is still plastic

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/175977-shimano-ch-ci4-reel-foot-cracked/

I'd like to meet these roid enraged gym rat bass that are flexing all these graphite reel bodies. I'm surprised they aren't stripping all the aluminum gears, and melting all the color coordinated reel handle koozies.

I don't feel any flex, but I have seen an aluminum frame reel fail at the reel foot.  Ripped the front foot off.  It was a $200 Daiwa Viento, and my best guess is there was a flaw in the casting.  I do prefer a solid aluminum frame for heavy stuff, but after trying out some of the composite reels, they have held up fine.  I have a few Stradic CI4 spinners, a TD-Z, and a couple of KastKing reels that are all composite material.  They're light, and plenty strong for the job.

I have never had a graphite reel fail.

I have however felt my graphite baitcasters flex while fighting 2+ pound Smallmouth and Catfish. The difference between baitcasters and spinning reels is I palm my baitcaster so I am able to feel the reel during the fight with a fish. Unlike a spinning reel where my hand is in on the handle and reel foot and rod alone.

This has concerned me enough to start investing in aluminum framed baitcasters.

So in summary, I don't hate graphite or plastic. I just prefer something stronger even if it comes at the price of a little more money and a little more weight.

Granted they were all "cheap" reels but I had a Lews Laser MG break, Lews Mach 1 flex and Shimano Caius flex under heavy load. the Mach 1 flex was at the reel foot under heavy load punching slop. The Laser Mg gear broke fighting a 20 lb freshwater drum while targeting bass and the Caius, not sure if it was the gears or the frame that flexed out of alignment but as I was fighting a channel catfish reel just quick reeling would not turn and when it finally would turn it would just grind. I way not targeting the drum or catfish when I caught them but I catch different species ever trip and need reels that will hold up to every fish I catch. Why spend money on gear that has a higher chance of failing when you don't need to take the unnecessary risk? My rod locker now consists of 4 casting reel models and 2 spinning; Revo SX, Revo STX, Tatula CT, Zillion SV, Ballistic LT, Stradic FK

If I'm paying $150+ for a reel it will be metal or its not for me.

I had a cheap Abu plastic housing break on a spinning reel just below the bail attachments.   I may have dropped it.  

I'm not a plastic hater but try to avoid any reels with plastic body frame and reel foot. I don't mind plastic parts on my reel like worm gear or any unloaded gears.

do I ever have one break? NO but why take unnecessary risk. 

  On 2/12/2018 at 10:18 PM, J Francho said:

I don't feel any flex, but I have seen an aluminum frame reel fail at the reel foot.  Ripped the front foot off.  It was a $200 Daiwa Viento, and my best guess is there was a flaw in the casting.  I do prefer a solid aluminum frame for heavy stuff, but after trying out some of the composite reels, they have held up fine.  I have a few Stradic CI4 spinners, a TD-Z, and a couple of KastKing reels that are all composite material.  They're light, and plenty strong for the job.

A composite TD-Z??

They're magnesium, e.g. NOT aluminum.

I got 2 graphite Lew’s casting reels. Fished them for 2 years and they are still holding strong. I highly doubt they will fail. Everything’s big else I own is aluminum which I prefer.

It’s doesn’t matter it doesn’t make a difference a glock pistol is made from plastic and it’s one of the most reliable pistols on the market. It depends on the reel your using, my  chronarch has never given me any problems no flex and I prefer it over an aluminum framed curado.

Personally, I prefer aluminum frames as they usually feel much more solid.  That said, I do have 2 older Quantum EX series reels that have graphite frames and they are hell for stout.  Never an issue with either and they have both hauled in some fine fish.  My EX300P even landed a 28 pound gar and I felt zero flex. 

Like many other things, I believe engineering plays a role many times in just how well a given product holds up.

I've had the front part of the reel foot on a cheap shakespeare spincast reel snap off during a cast a few weeks back.. only time I've ever had anything plastic break. Granted, those are very low quality reels so I'm not exactly shocked. It really depends on what kind of polymers are used for the plastic production. There are some cases in which plastic can have a higher strength than metals. For example, carbon fiber has a higher strength to weight ratio to steel and aluminum at a lower density. If a component of the same thickness is made from carbon fiber, steel, and aluminum, the one made from carbon fiber will have a greater rigidity and lower weight than the two metals. Furthermore, if we wanted to reinforce something and had a certain weight limit, the advantage again goes to carbon fiber since it is lighter than steel and aluminum. This would give it an even more superior rigidity strength (and therefore higher ultimate stength) compared to the other two common materials. So really... it depends on the weight, size, and how it is constructed that will determine what is actually stronger. The feeling of the metal being "superior feeling" is mostly an illusion and bias.

To give you an idea:

Edit: Whoo, 100 posts!!

“Plastic Haters”. Thought we might be talking about Glocks  ????

I've caught hundreds of wipers on my KastKing Assassin along with hundreds of bass of all sizes. It's handled all of them without any issues from plastic flex. It's reeling a fish in, not winching a Jeep out of a mudhole. The rod is what I move them with, the reel just takes up the line so I can continue to move the fish with the rod.

  On 2/12/2018 at 10:07 PM, reason said:

I'd like to meet these roid enraged gym rat bass that are flexing all these graphite reel bodies. I'm surprised they aren't stripping all the aluminum gears, and melting all the color coordinated reel handle koozies.

I was wondering about this too...

For perspective, not bragging:

I spend a fair amount of time each year chasing and catching fish that can and do eat bass.

I cast big lures, and catch fish that approach 50" and weigh north of 20 or 25 lbs. 

I've never seen any of the things attributed to "plastic" ...or metal reels as a factor in the pursuit, hooking, or landing of these fish.I

I am left wondering what folks are doing to their gear to cause these problems, and/or if we (as a fairly large group) are simply seeing the failures that are statistically normal within any large population?

  On 2/15/2018 at 6:26 AM, FishDewd said:

I've had the front part of the reel foot on a cheap shakespeare spincast reel snap off during a cast a few weeks back.. only time I've ever had anything plastic break. Granted, those are very low quality reels so I'm not exactly shocked. It really depends on what kind of polymers are used for the plastic production. There are some cases in which plastic can have a higher strength than metals. For example, carbon fiber has a higher strength to weight ratio to steel and aluminum at a lower density. If a component of the same thickness is made from carbon fiber, steel, and aluminum, the one made from carbon fiber will have a greater rigidity and lower weight than the two metals. Furthermore, if we wanted to reinforce something and had a certain weight limit, the advantage again goes to carbon fiber since it is lighter than steel and aluminum. This would give it an even more superior rigidity strength (and therefore higher ultimate stength) compared to the other two common materials. So really... it depends on the weight, size, and how it is constructed that will determine what is actually stronger. The feeling of the metal being "superior feeling" is mostly an illusion and bias.

 

To give you an idea:

 

Edit: Whoo, 100 posts!!

Love this video. it is an amazing sight to see. 

I own plastic reels. And I use them every day but when I go out to catch gar on the Trinity river, the plastic stays at home. A 4 foot gar will smoke a reel pretty fast. Think of what a 7 footer will do to it.

I have caught redfish over 30 inches on a Ci4 2500 as well as a FK 3000 and they did flex a bit but my BG 2500 doesn't. That being said those fish pull MUCH harder than any bass does. For bass fishing its all personal preference imo and I generally don't care I like and own both for different purposes. 

I see a lot of people have had better experiences with graphite framed reels than I have. I've owned two and both eventually lost some alignment to the point they would slip, momentarily freespool or bind. I got rid of both as soon as I could afford to replace them because I knew one day they'd fail at the worst possible time. I made a conscious decision to stay away from them thereafter. I hear a lot of good things about them these days and manufacturers might have worked all that out. I even see some of the Lew's reels that are kind of pricey have graphite frames. I'm just not ready to waste money on another one.

Depends on the quality of the mixture.  I have Daiwas from the mid 80s that still work fine.  They don't have infinite AR, so they sit in a drawer, but they still work fine.

I did a bit of research on the differences between aluminum and graphite reels a few days back. I found this post on a different forum that basically summed it up for me.

That post is nonsense.  'Graphite reels can take a huge thump and walk away smiling"  

They typically lay on the ground with a broken reel foot after a 'huge thump' such as being dropped from waist high.  

To each his own, but I can tell you for cold weather fishing I reach for my Chonarch and Stradic CI4 first.  Love the Met's but the metal reels freeze my hands a lot quicker than carbon when it's 25 degrees out.

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