The uncanny valley

[Brewcrafter]

Jason - Glad you dug into this, it was a good exercise and your conclusions are probably spot on.  The only thing I would speculate on is if maybe some of the components (like the main gear) are everyday off the shelf components for something that is not a fishing reel, maybe that is how the manufacturer was looking to reduce some costs.  So I think the takeaway on this is - use it in it's intended range (not much) and don't expect a lot.  Sounds like a large portion of the reels sold in retail today. - john

[jurelometer]

Jason - Glad you dug into this, it was a good exercise and your conclusions are probably spot on.  The only thing I would speculate on is if maybe some of the components (like the main gear) are everyday off the shelf components for something that is not a fishing reel, maybe that is how the manufacturer was looking to reduce some costs.  So I think the takeaway on this is - use it in it's intended range (not much) and don't expect a lot.  Sounds like a large portion of the reels sold in retail today. - john

Yeah , but I don't think that repurposed generic gears are used.  Check out Boston Gears or McMaster Carr to see what generic gears look like.

But I agree with your assessment of the market. it doesn't make sense to design yet another mostly–the–same reel from scratch nowadays.  Just go to the Chinese manufacturer, pick out a model and request some modifications.

A decent but cynical marketing strategy would be to focus on some pain points like ball bearing maintenance, and ensure that the reel casts well for a low manufacturing cost.  Spend some money on marketing babblespeak full of fake technology claims, and you are good to go.  Which describes a lot of bass reels our there if you ask me.

On a brighter note, when  you take into account inflation, we are getting more reel per dollar all the way from the low to high end  nowadays. There  is a thread where we calculated the inflation adjusted price of a Squidder when it was introduced, and if I remember correctly it was into the hundreds of  current dollars.

-J

[oc1]

These days, you can buy a brand new baitacsting reel for less than $5.  When they get that cheap the side plates are glued to the frame so they can't be opened.  They are probably good for a few days though.

like this

[Gfish]

"The Annihilator",😲, funny stuff. Great Info. in this thread. "Everyday off the shelf components", sounds right Brewcrafter. "Repurposed generic gears" could be a thing Dave, maybe if repurposed is only for the various fishing reel companies. One Chinese manufacturer for parts and assembly in their factory
would save worldwide reel manufacturing companies a bundle. Just gotta stick "designed and/or engineered in(insert country here)".

[jurelometer]

""Repurposed generic gears" could be a thing Dave, maybe if repurposed is only for the various fishing reel companies. One Chinese manufacturer for parts and assembly in their factory
would save worldwide reel manufacturing companies a bundle. Just gotta stick "designed and/or engineered in(insert country here)".

Yeah. Entire reels can be repurposed generic.  But repurposed in the commercial sense, not mechanical. Same gears across very similar models, rebadging generic reels, etc.

You are right about standardized design and parts. There is a movement (more of a slow crawl) out there in the real world for something called open manufacturing.   The design is licensed for anyone to use.  Various companies compete on cost, quality and add-ones.  But if you need parts, they can come from anywhere.  Imagine your old washing machine dying, and being able to order a Clothes Washer 2.0 compatible pump from any of the suppliers.

As an example, there is a successful open manufacturing project out there for an inexpensive robot submersible.  OpenROV.  I haven't been following it recently, but it was pretty interesting stuff.  Probably still worth checking out.

Sorry for the topic drift, Jason...

-J

[nelz]

"The Annihilator",😲, funny stuff. Great Info. in this thread.

Yeah, really    How about the "18 bearings"  Where do they put 'em all? Lemme guess, there's a bunch of tiny ones inside the handle knobs.

Btw, "Annihilator" sounds like a name Penn would come up with these days.