[Lucky Doug]

or the orange shimano sonora 2500fb http://www.ebay.com/itm/SHIMANO-SON...RA-2500FB-SPINNING-REEL-/221310341416?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33871fd128 , i have one that has gotten just as much usage as my saharas and stil works great..i do re oil and grease my reels at least twice a year though but its a solid shimano i did see a daiwa regal on cabelas website half off at $30 that should be a good reel too but no personal experience with it

I got two sweepfires at a fishing show and they didn't last the season.
I don't like walmart but I like my Sonora

http://www.walmart.com/ip/15553911?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227000632553&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42181171990&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=39925824190&veh=sem

 

[catfish_hunter]

I purchased a daiwa sweepfire for shad season... I caught less than a dozen bass on it and the gears are already grinding. so much for a new shad reel.

 

[roostertail24]

I handled one of these http://www.pfluegerfishing.com/Pflueger®-Trion®-Spinning-Reel/1313958,default,pd.html
at Dicks last night and it is an extremely sweet feeling reel. It was 29.95 for the 20 size.

 

[Guest]

there is one Shimano sidestab size 2000 rear drag on ebay right now, i still have a couple that have many miles/fish on 'em.

 

[Lucky Doug]

I just re-read all the posts on this thread and it seems to me there is a common thread. A lot of the guys that have good things to say about the lower end reels bought them back then and the guys that don't like them have experience from more recent buys.

Have the companies just engineered the lower priced reels down to meet the price point with no regard to quality whatsoever? I thinks so. That along with them being made in some other country, in my mind, makes them a waste of money.

I fished the very bottom end of the Shimanos (AX/FX) 30 years ago and only replaced them 4-5 years ago. 2 Sweepfires that lasted less than a year and I bought a $30 Shimano last summer and it broke on my trip yesterday. Is that value? NO.

I think what we all want to know is where do we get the break? A decent reel at a decent price. Capitalism does have a downside. To address the OP's question - CAN we get value in a reel for $40?

 

[whitey]

I purchased a daiwa sweepfire for shad season... I caught less than a dozen bass on it and the gears are already grinding. so much for a new shad reel.

well now you have a new paperweight

 

[BMBMKR]

I have three Diawa Regals that have been used and abused, and oiled/greased yearly for the last 5 or 6 years- Value yes, especially with extra spools with braid and mono/flouro for each one. They were around $40 on BPS. I also use 8 of the 1000 series $10 sweepfires for my crappie spider rigs, and have yet to have a problem with them. Am I goin to use a $10 reel for a tournament? No, but for fillin the fry daddy YES!

 

[sundrop]

Lucky Doug makes a good point. As manufacturing costs increase I can see companies going to cheaper and cheaper materials to maintain a price range especially on low end reels. So $40 2 yrs ago probably bought more reel than it will now in new production. It also seems to change dramatically in quality and consistency when you push the $60 mark. Then again when you breech $100. I would tend to risk my $40 on a good used reel from Ebay in a known quality range. Once in awhile you get a dud so it's a gamble.

 

[Lucky Doug]

Shimano solstace! Best bang for the buck. But I think maintenance will keep any decent reel going.

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk HD

I just looked at the Shimano website and the Soltace is not in the lineup anymore.

 

[paclc1]

Try this link for the shimano solstace.

http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/products/reels/spinning.html

 

[catfish_hunter]

I just looked at the Shimano website and the Soltace is not in the lineup anymore.

http://fish.shimano.com/publish/con...ublish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/products/reels/spinning/Solstace_FH.html

 

[draggsxr1000]

Shimano sienna 500. Has been an awesome reel. But its getting a little loose now