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Update the crosswind on the SS series reels


rocket500

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Hi guys- You should re-engineer the crosswind on the SS series reels. They're really terrific reels other than the fact that the line lay is old school and really only well suited to monofilament. You wouldn't even need to touch anything else- these reels have a strong following. I know you've got some newer stuff out that's braid friendly and the Slammers are too, but the SS reels are really a saltwater fishing icon and I think it has a lot of legs if it was updated a little.

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I have had line lay issues with spectra type braids on these reels. Saltwater spinners will need to work well with spectra today. Look at the spool lip design as well as the line lay. I think it is just as important. Take a look at the new Shimano spool lips on anything that utilizes their "line propulsion management system". It sounds like hype but there is something about that spool lip that eliminates wind knots on the casts. I would consider changing to better quality gears too. I would consider making the 550 ssg into an ssm model figuring it would weigh in @19 oz and be a stronger reel. The gap between the 550 and 650 in weight is too large and your missing the @ 20 oz spinner in this series that is the backbone of other manufactures lineups. Bad move here. I know you can go to the slammer 460/560 for the 20 oz size but I have some issues here as well. More money - same quality.

 

I might as well toss this out here too. Gear wear on my previously owned slammers was horrendous. The pot metal gears in my SSG's and SSM's wore OK. Same stuff - right? Very odd - no?. SSG's and SSM's had basically, few problems with wear. Replaced a couple over many years. But, I would still look toward upgrades to allow them to handle corrosion better. I don't know what it is about the slammer 460/560 main gears but for me to have gone through 4 or 5 in a single season was not odd. I finally gave up on those reels. Please take this into consideration if you decide to offer a better quality gear. I truly believe there is a small design flaw in that series regarding the gear that should be fixed first.

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The antireverse on my 750SS (now thirty - something years old) is why it gathers dust, while the Emblem Pro (six years old) gets wet regularly. Line lay is dated, sure, the spool is not a "long cast" design, true, but the antireverse is a chronic problem. Power Pro did adequately well on the reel, and when the last spoolfull was kinda worn, the antireverse is the reason it got put aside.

 

Larry Cofe, Cal, Accurate and (sign) Carl Newell and others all got started in the reel business making upgrades for Penns when the owning family had lost interest in the business and was basically dawdling forwards to a sale. I have often wondered why the Japanese reel tweakers who made such a range of SS enhancements made so little effort to do so here, and why no one in the US made a serious attempt to do so.

 

IMHO at a given price point there is rarely any difference in the quality of a given reel when compared to another. Under $200/reel, it's rare to find a gear that is anything other than cheesy pot metal.

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I don't think it would be hard to do this either, although I'm admittedly no reel engineer. I think tweaking the crosswind gear and crosswind block would get the job done. Those reels have a lumpy, uneven line lay that leads to digging in and knots. The narrow and deep spool doesn't help either but I think it could be overcome with a better line lay pattern. It works with monofilament because its stiffer and more forgiving, but not as good with braid.

 

I make this recommendation first because I don't think it will require major re-tooling and shouldn't increase the cost of manufacturing the reel.

 

Now if you're asking what I'd do if I were re-designing that reel, I'd consider the following:

 

Replace the white metal gears with marine bronze as suggested above. Corrosion is an issue with these gears in a saltwater environment, particularly for the surfcaster. They also don't wear as long. I recognize this adds a couple bucks to the manufacturing cost. I think people might pay for that if you educated them as to the benefits over most other reels in the price range.

 

Incorporate a dog based backup anti-reverse. The infinite anti-reverse in a non sealed reel is one of the weakest links since they don't like contamination, getting wet or corrosion. If it was me I'd actually drop the one way bearing entirely and go with a dog based A/R system since its more reliable, but I'm not sure the market would support it these days since everyone is used to the one way bearings at this point. Anyway, the backup will cover you if the one way bearing fails due to cold, contamination or what not and they do fail from time to time. Daiwa is incoporating backup A/R into some of its reasonably priced reels, Penn should also be able to figure out a way to do it.

 

Last I'd consider elongating the spool to help with casting distance and overall braid friendliness. Of course this would require the most re-engineering of the reel. I suppose you'd have to elongate the main shaft, make changes to the gears and so on- you probably have to lengthen the body of the reel to incorporate the longer stroke of the spool. Not sure on that one- again I'm a fisherman and not a reel engineer. I have taken apart a ton of reels and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night if that helps.

 

Crazy stuff like seals and so on are going to drive the price too high and these reels were always affordable which is part of why they are so popular.

 

No need to stuff bearings where they don't belong (like under the spool on your new Battle where a teflon washer would be better). The drags are fine on these reels. Keep the HT-100 system. The current reel has bearings in the right places.

 

And I'd keep the traditional Penn black body/gold anodized spool and overall look. These reels are still so poplular- go to any marina or head out on any beach where surfcasters roam and you'll see tons of them- new and old.

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I have had line lay issues with spectra type braids on these reels. Saltwater spinners will need to work well with spectra today. Look at the spool lip design as well as the line lay. I think it is just as important. Take a look at the new Shimano spool lips on anything that utilizes their "line propulsion management system". It sounds like hype but there is something about that spool lip that eliminates wind knots on the casts. I would consider changing to better quality gears too. I would consider making the 550 ssg into an ssm model figuring it would weigh in @19 oz and be a stronger reel. The gap between the 550 and 650 in weight is too large and your missing the @ 20 oz spinner in this series that is the backbone of other manufactures lineups. Bad move here. I know you can go to the slammer 460/560 for the 20 oz size but I have some issues here as well. More money - same quality.

I might as well toss this out here too. Gear wear on my previously owned slammers was horrendous. The pot metal gears in my SSG's and SSM's wore OK. Same stuff - right? Very odd - no?. SSG's and SSM's had basically, few problems with wear. Replaced a couple over many years. But, I would still look toward upgrades to allow them to handle corrosion better. I don't know what it is about the slammer 460/560 main gears but for me to have gone through 4 or 5 in a single season was not odd. I finally gave up on those reels. Please take this into consideration if you decide to offer a better quality gear. I truly believe there is a small design flaw in that series regarding the gear that should be fixed first.

 

 

This is interesting. I kept, as a souvenir, a worn-out main gear from my SS 750. This was a USA made reel probably purchased in the very late 1960s or early 1970s. It took me 25 years to wear the damn thing out.

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