Saragosa sw-a full review, by A.Hawk

[flyangler]

3 hours ago, camilos_garage said:

If  you really want one, some European shops will ship the new Saragosa to the US. Even with shipping, total price is 5-15% cheaper that buying in the US...

how can that be? when is anything made in asia cheaper in europe than in usa? 

 

 

ETA: excuse if ignorant question....

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2021 by flyangler

[camilos_garage]

2 hours ago, flyangler said:

how can that be? 

I have no idea but by now I have saved literally hundreds. Shimano USA wont do warranty service but in my experience they have good quality inspections and my Shimano reels have always been perfect out of the box. Shimano Europe will warranty them for 2 years though as these shops are authorized European dealers.

Edited May 20, 2021 by camilos_garage

[flyangler]

1 hour ago, camilos_garage said:

I have no idea but by now I have saved literally hundreds. Shimano USA wont do warranty service but in my experience they have good quality inspections and my Shimano reels have always been perfect out of the box. Shimano Europe will warranty them for 2 years though as these shops are authorized European dealers.

sounds like the old gray market that existed for Japanese cameras in the States. buy the european designated model, with a european warranty, and save 10-15% over the USA warranty item. exactly the same, just different market, different pricing. you had places like B&H and Adorama that would offer you their own warranty, a match for the USA version, on grey market items. 

 

interesting, did not know this was happening in reels. 

[Shipwreck]

12 mins ago, flyangler said:

 

interesting, did not know this was happening in reels. 

lol

[Tourstage]

its the same over at my side, gosa OOS and TP 21 as well.

[Jcallaham]

21 hours ago, camilos_garage said:

If  you really want one, some European shops will ship the new Saragosa to the US. Even with shipping, total price is 5-15% cheaper that buying in the US...

careful with that. I ordered a reel from Europe a month ago, seems to be lost in another dimension. make sure they don't use USPS.

[EricDice]

On 5/20/2021 at 8:31 AM, camilos_garage said:

I am no reel expert but after seeing @scoobydoo and Alan Hawk's reviews, all I can say is that it looks like a tank of a reel. I think time and users feedback will add even more positive stories to the legend of the Saragosa. The reel is way more than I will ever need in my surf fishing but I love well engineered objects and this 2020 Saragosa as well as the 2020 Saltiga are my holy grails now. Now, I would not be concerned about @scoobydoo submersion test (the 2020 'gosa did not pass it), as he took the reel to conditions it was probably not designed to be subjected to and one of the hypothesis is that water intrusion was caused by and improperly installed/defective seal. I would love  @scoobydoo to repeat his test on a pre-inspected reel (checking all the seals are in place and in good shape)...

He did a repeat of the test. New gosa passed the second one. 

[camilos_garage]

25 mins ago, EricDice said:

He did a repeat of the test. New gosa passed the second one. 

Awesome!! I skipped through the video and missed the second test

Edited May 21, 2021 by camilos_garage

[dennysnook]

Finally an Alan Hawk review that coincides with my field testing lol. To think I only bought the Stella because there was no gosa stock in sight at the time smh.

[iputmyhoursin]

I just read the review, sounds like he's a big fan of the reel. On a side note.... I tend to call my online retailer before making a Stella purchase to keep seal on the box intact (I'm spending a lot of cake, keep the paws off it I want the reel as if it rolled out of the Shimano factory). I always thought I was crazy or a bit OCD about it. Many retailers state that they break the seal "to make sure" the reel is fully functional and there are no issues. I saw that Allen Hawk mentioned this in his review. I guess I'm not alone

 

"The box has a sticker seal and you should insist that yours arrive with an intact seal. One thing I learned over the years is that many online sellers and big name shops do sell reels returned by customers as if they were new if these reels don't show obvious usage marks. When asked why the seals are broken they'll claim that they were checking the reels before sending them or that they were placing a coupon or a business flyer inside the box, etc. Shimano puts that seal for a reason, so it needs to be intact unless there is a very good and credible reason."