Spheros SW (2019) commentary

[JasonGotaProblem]

My spheros SP4000XGSW took its 2nd dunk this weekend. This one was way worse than the time my kayak tilted. The sand spike got pulled over because I forgot to loosen the drag, so it basically got dragged through sand and waves and sat underwater for a good 5 seconds.

Lots of sand under the spool and under the rotor. None got into the AR, and I don't think a drop of water made it inside the gearbox. Now these small spheros reels don't claim to be waterproof like their larger cousins. But they do have a few well placed rubber seals. And those seals did their job.

I continue to think that these are the only modern inshore-sized reels under $150 that are worth owning. All metal, super light, casts a mile, and is structurally sound enough to use its max drag. If it had a backup AR it would be perfect. Swap the bushings for bearings and you got a heck of a reel

[boon]

Great little reels for the money but are you sure it's all metal?

I'm almost certain the rotor is plastic, and Shimano has a sneaky tendency to use a plastic sideplate on their mid-market reels that have a metal body.

[JasonGotaProblem]

Great little reels for the money but are you sure it's all metal?

I'm almost certain the rotor is plastic, and Shimano has a sneaky tendency to use a plastic sideplate on their mid-market reels that have a metal body.

I think you may be right about the rotor. I think the side plate is metal though. This reel has their "hagane body" which is some sort of acronym for painted magnesium.

[MarkT]

Alan Hawk (www.alanhawk.com) picks the Spheros as the #1 reel for between $150-250.

[JasonGotaProblem]

I believe he was specifically reviewing the larger size which has a newer revision. I'm pretty happy with this one though.

He did mention this reel in talking about his annoyance with shimano's over use of the spheros name but he never mentioned his opinion of the reel itself. I asked him via PM and I'll avoid purring words in his mouth but it was generally positive commentary.

[steelfish]

good to know about the spheros Jason, nothing like real world experiences

[jurelometer]

Great little reels for the money but are you sure it's all metal?

I'm almost certain the rotor is plastic, and Shimano has a sneaky tendency to use a plastic sideplate on their mid-market reels that have a metal body.

I think you may be right about the rotor. I think the side plate is metal though. This reel has their "hagane body" which is some sort of acronym for painted magnesium.

Looks to me like  "hagane" just translates to "steel" in English.  Which of course means that it is not steel    I think that Hagane originally was the the marketing label Shimano used to tout cold forged (not steel) gears used in some reels. Now it is also a "concept"  that gets spread like fertilizer over other parts of the reel.

So yeah, cast aluminum or magnesium, just like any other mid priced metal spinner. 

-J

[MarkT]

In Shimano speak Hagane means metal. They apply it to cast and forged aluminum frames, brass and steel gears and anything else the marketing dept wants to hang that label on... it's gobbledygook. Daiwa does the same thing with their labels.