I am just curious of the ranking of the Sustain and Stradics I have. I have done almost no maintenance to these reels because they are unused from 1997. I have replaced all drags with carbon fiber/Cal's.
I thought the Sustain was the 'better' reel, but in my drag change out, I noticed it has a smaller drag disc than the Sustain. In reality these drags are small anyway, but are plenty good enough for the light line use. (1000 size models).
My question though, is this: Does Shimano rank their reels based on just the number of total bearings? The Sustain has more bearings but a smaller drag system.
It has been my findings that yes they do change the name on the reel according to the upgrades or added bearings.
Especially the ones that use the worm gear oscillation system. Add a bearing and charge more...