cheaper 500 gears

[Tom McKinney]

Anybody have experience with the less expensive penn 500 gears on EBay?
I know the ones made by "the other Alan" are very well made but they cost twice as much.

[Hoochrip]

Put a set in a 501 seemed very noisy and lots of harmonic noise throughout reel. Pulled them out and put 4/1 gears in instead.

[broadway]

Stick with the Black Pearl gears... his are tried and true!
Also, he has put the time in with testing, engineering, and re-doing them to make them the best they can be.
Not to mention, if you ever have a problem with them you have a lot of people to help trouble shoot.
They're worth the extra dough!
Dom

[Lensters]

I have a few sets, I'm not very happy with them.  Even polishing/lapping them didn't help the noise/feel much.  One set engages so little that they skip when pulling.

[Tom McKinney]

Thanks guys,  Sounds like even used brass is better.  I was only interested because they seemed to cost about the same as brass.  should have known better.

[Black Pearl]

Anybody have experience with the less expensive penn 500 gears on EBay?
I know the ones made by "the other Alan" are very well made but they cost twice as much.

I wish I could lower the price on my Jigmaster 500/501 gear set, but my cost is just higher than that Ebay gear set.

If you look, the same gear set (Ebay) is selling on CharkBait and Berinson for around $39.00. As you might know that the Ebay seller is the same company sold that gear set to CharkBait and Berinson, and that company is selling cheaper on Ebay to under cut those companies. That is just a wrong way to do business.

By the way, that company stated that its gear set is made with type 304 heat treated stainless steel material. I never heard that type 304 stainless steel can be heat treated. Most of the time, type 400 series stainless steel material can be heat treated that I know.

Some might think that it is easy to just make a gear set by copying from the original set, but it is very hard in reality. There are a lot of re-engineering and testing in the processes. If I have the measurement data diagram from the original manufacturer, then everything will be much easier.

[ChileRelleno]

"Caveat emptor" & "You get what you pay for." are two bits of wisdom that I live by when purchasing almost anything.
There is Cheap & there is Inexpensive, more often than not there isn't much difference.

I've bought multiple BP gears, I had one problem, and I had the pleasure of them being here to talk to & they made it right.

[Keta]

The BP gear sets weren't slapped together and then dumped on the market, there was R&D and testing before they were produced for sale.  The BP gears are high quality and well worth the price.

[floating doc]

I wouldn't even consider buying a set of the eBay gears, and wouldn't take a set for free. It takes a lot of time and effort whenever I go fishing, so why would I take a chance on an equipment failure?

[redsetta]

It takes a lot of time and effort whenever I go fishing, so why would I take a chance on an equipment failure?

Well said

[floating doc]

I have a set of the Black Pearl gears for my 500. I bought them for my 112HN, but they had some problems in the 112h reels. The fact that I learned about this on this site is a good example of the integrity and honesty behind Alan's products.

If you need to keep the costs down but still want something stronger than the bronze main gear, you can get a stock Penn 4:1 steel main gear on eBay for $10. It won't be stainless or as quick on the line recovery, but still is a good upgrade.

[garking84]

Black Pearl has my vote.  They are worth every penny

[erikpowell]

I'd have to agree with above... I've tried the ebay gear..it is noisy, anything but smooth, and it has a tendency to lock up if you crank against the drag... I just ordered 3 more 500 gear sets from Black Pearl.. I'll give away the ebay gear.
I consider it $30 mistake I could have put towards Alan's sweet setup.

[handi2]

I'd have to agree with above... I've tried the ebay gear..it is noisy, anything but smooth, and it has a tendency to lock up if you crank against the drag... I just ordered 3 more 500 gear sets from Black Pearl.. I'll give away the ebay gear.
I consider it $30 mistake I could have put towards Alan's sweet setup.

Yep I tried them also. Junk..!

[Big Tim]

I BROKE A PINION GEAR ON A 12# LING COD!!! Stick with Penn gears or Black Pearl!