[Guest]

Just found out that Pro Gear has discontinued the Classic series and the GR series reels. They will continue to produce the Albacore Specials and a new Albacore Special style reel with less drag for a lower price.
Newell is producing S series reels with the old style slotted bearing cups on both sides.

Frank

 

[Billy40]

Iguess Avet forced them to cut their prices? Or is it something else?

 

[Codkiller]

Competition is a bitch!
I guess they milked those old Penn designs as far as they could. If the new Pro gears are based on the Abli special it should be a much better reel than the classics and GR's and to survive they had better be.

Bob

 

[skatemaster]

Yep, the Albie Special with the lighter drags is supposed to list for $180. When they came out last year, they were over $300. Nice drop.

 

[619627]

PROGEARS page which lists the reels discontinued:

ORIGINAL 'CLASSIC' SERIES DISCONTINUED REELS

GRAPHITE SERIES REELS DISCONTINUED

EC NEWELL MAN*

(This post edited by EC NEWELL MAN on 03/06/2003)

 

[Billy40]

I guess if you bought one of the Green Graphite series, they'd be a collectors item now, huh? Shoot!! I knew I should'a got at least one, maybe 3 of them.

 

[Codkiller]

There should be some good sales of the old stock.

I thought I was the only one with green Pro Gears.


Bob

 

[Guest]

To tell you the truth I don't think there is a lot of old stock left. A friend of mine in the business has been trying to get a hold of the GR series since December with no luck. He was told they were retooling the machines. I guess they were retooling to make new models.

Frank

 

[Capt.XXX]

PG Albie Specials...

Are they available yet, and who carries them?

I still think the Avet is a much better product than ProGear for the money!

Also has Newell lowered their prices to compete with the Avets -- I think they should? My opinion is that the Newell 200 series reels are a bit over priced!

(This post edited by Capt.XXX on 03/07/2003)

 

[Codkiller]

Fred
If I could get a Abli special with left hand gears and a lower gear ratio
I would much rather use it with its star drag than the lever drag Avet for bottomfishing. A lever drag puts a lot of wear on the lever cam and I can see it failing or at least give you trouble when used for codjigging. That said, I will be trying the LH Avet 4/0 2 spd for deep jigging when it becomes available. The Albi special appears to be a well designed reel and I'm pretty sure they are available at the West Coast outlets like Charkbait and Capt. Mikes Tackle Town. This competition between Avet and Pro gear is a good thing as it will keep prices down and
designs up to snuff.

Bob

 

[Capt.XXX]

Bob -- I agree with you!

I like the clutch as opposed to the lever drag. It's easier to operate and would also imagine that it is less wear too.

Although, the Avet is a great quality reel. I think I'll invest in one of the 2-speeds for shark fishing and tuna chunking. But as you suggested I'll stick to the clutch reels for codfishing! I have a PG2500 which has really served me well on the cod grounds.

Anyway, I'd like to see a price war between ProGear and Avet!

 

[614050]

NEW TIAGRAS!!!

http://www.meltontackle.com/shopping/product.asp?product_id=11140

the ti12 and 16 are comin' out. the 16 is supposed to give 30# drag at strike according to the melton's website; this might be a typo. it would mean that the ti16 has more drag than the ti20 or 30. probably meant 20#, still considerable. dig the trini-style handles. dunno what the drags are like on the 12 but it looks like it could be a killer.

 

[Capt.XXX]

"A Killer"

Sounds like it could be a "killer" on the wallet too!

 

[Tunatoys]

New reels at Fred Hall Show

Everol has lowered the MSRP on the greatly improved super 12-20 to $250.00
This reel has 20# of drag out of the box and can be easily tweeked to get close to 30#.There is also a prototype super 12-20 and 20-30 Auto 2-speed at the show. No pricing or availability date on these yet.
T.T.

 

[619627]

Hi Tuna Toys...thats a incredible price for the super 12/20. Thats a reel that can match up to the Tiagra 12. Keep me informed when the 6/0 narrow 2 speed is available.

EC NEWELL MAN*

 

[skatemaster]

Saw the Tiagra 12 & 16. Nice reels. The 12 maxes out at 17# of drag, but perhaps by part swapping with the 16, you may be able to get more. Stock, I suspect that like a TLD30 (which also maxes out at 17# of drag), the 12 will make a decent 50# reel. The 16 on the other hand seems like a real animal.

The 12 is about the size of a very, very narrow 4/0 with lugs. Maybe 30oz. Pricewise, about $90 more that an Avet 2-speed.

Wanna bet the the Tiagra 12-30WLRS all have the same gears? I'm a little confused that only the 16 and the 130 are "dual-drag" models.

(This post edited by skatemaster on 03/07/2003)

 

[skatemaster]

.

 

[614050]

OK, i took the bait; bought the ti16 this weekend at suffern. shimano threw in a tee and a cap, the retailer gave me a spool of 80# PP.

picked the shimano rep's brain. yes, it does deliver 30# drag at strike while maintaining complete freespool. the ti12 &16 are intentionally designed for fishing braids. the dual-sided drag is something that the industry is moving towards (e.g. the new penn, avet and daiwa designs). basic innards (gears, drag) are the same. already the west coasters are thinking of dropping the cam from ti16 into the 12 to get the 30# of drag, instead of 17#.

my impressions? it's a compact and relatively light reel, 38 oz and about the same size as a penn 16S, very comfy. well made, good but not excellent freespool (i'll have to degrease the bearings later), excellent trini-style handle and nice detents on the lever drag setting. no scientific measurements but it has plenty of drag. i'm going to load it with 80# hollow spectra and find out the max. drag. the high speed ratio of 3.9 seems kinda slow for this size reel (it's a 4/0); a 4.5-5.0 might be better. low gear seems OK, i want as much leverage as i can get when they're straight up and down.

not sure if it's a legit 80# reel, only some heavy fishing will tell, but safe bet is 60#. an incredible package for $439. the ti12 also looks like a bargain for $409. jmo, but no need to trick this reel out any further.

 

[skatemaster]

Let us know if the reel really does 30# of drag. I went for the 12 on the basis that it's gotta have more drag and cranking power than a Trinidad 30, which is a pretty common reel these days for jigging tuna with 50# line. Already have a couple reels in the 16 class, but nothing as compact as the 12.

I found that the Shimano guys really didn't know much about the reel. Too new. Between Long Beach and Suffren, are there even 50 of these reels in the country? Doug Rusch and the tech with the goatee were ultra helpful and probably knew the most, but even they were looking at the box and literature to answer questions. Talked to Mark Wisch, who caught a sailfish on the 16 in Panama last month, and he liked the reel.

(This post edited by skatemaster on 03/10/2003)

 

[614050]

yes, that was my experience, too. not a whole lotta experience with that specific product, but were able to figure some things out by looking at schematics, etc.