Hi crew, I'm writing to you because I'd like to discuss a specific topic with you all. I'll start by saying that, to my regret, I have absolutely no knowledge of rod building.learn how to build fishing rods would be my lifelong dream, but unfortunately, I live in Europe and there aren't any training courses available here. As if that weren't enough, my English level doesn't allow me to follow the free tutorials offered on YouTube. After this necessary introduction, to allow you to better understand the reasons that push me to open this topic of discussion, I will explain everything to you in great detail. I'm planning on having a rod set built for offshore trolling, targeting shortbill spearfish and albacore tuna. Of all the blanks available internationally, my choice has fallen on the Rainshadow RSU60MH 30-50 pound rod. A 6-foot long rod blank. My trolling style involves baking 50lb (600 yards) Hollowcore braid connected to about 270 yards of 30lb premium nylon. I don't use wind-on leaders. I'm planning on having my fishing rods assembled with Roller Guides. After some research, I decided to go with Alps for several reasons I won't go into here. However, the product offers good quality at a reasonable price. I did a quick tour of several online sites specializing in the sale of this material. And I found these assembly diagrams that really impressed me.
Generally all the fishing rods that I see in shops, regardless of length and poundage, all have 6 roller guides (Tip roller included) and it is clear that this assembly gives a more rigid structure to the fishing rod, if we think for example of a blank with the same characteristics but assembled with 8/9 ring guides.The heart of my question comes now, I saw these new single guides from Alps that seem to give a better harmony to the traction curve of the blank, So, as a layman, I deduce that it must be a new assembly style in rod building. I'd like your opinion because I'd like to learn more about this topic before purchasing the material and spending a lot of money. Thanks to anyone who can help me.
For 30lb line those are over kill. I'd use alps titanium guides with SIC of the equivalent ring material. Use 2 foot guides for the first 2-3 then single foot for the rest of the running guides. I use a similar guide trail on some of my rods if I want to keep the tip section light and limber. I've had no issues using 30lb line with single foot ring guides
Quote from: Swami805 on August 29, 2025, 03:06:04 AMFor 30lb line those are over kill. I'd use alps titanium guides with SIC of the equivalent ring material. Use 2 foot guides for the first 2-3 then single foot for the rest of the running guides. I use a similar guide trail on some of my rods if I want to keep the tip section light and limber. I've had no issues using 30lb line with single foot ring guides
The choice of using roller guides is dictated by my personal fishing style. Typically, a fish is fought using 1/3 of the breaking strain of the line class. On 30-pound line, the drag and fighting drag will be set around 10-12 pounds. This is the general rule everyone uses. It's also true, however, that using roller guides can increase the drag, reaching almost 19 pounds. Using ring guides is absolutely suicidal. This is why I've chosen to use roller guides exclusively. I like fighting with 30-pound line, but occasionally bluefin tuna weighing around 60 pounds come onto my Kona lures. So I occasionally need to use a stronger drag to shorten the fight. Switching to a 50-pound line class doesn't interest me.
There's nothing wrong with SiC ring guides. If you were primarily fishing braid on a 30lb lineclass rod that's what I'd be using. On a primarily mono setup like yours, I think those Alps rollers will be really nice. Keep the weight down slightly and maximise the action of the rod.
At the same time, if you wanted to maximise the action of a 30lb rod you wouldn't be using a 30-50lb blank. Just my opinion.
I agree with the other sceptics.
A bit on what I have gleaned from the science:
Spectra/Dyneema braid is made of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene ((UHMWPE), which has an astoundingly low coefficient of friction when paired with polished stainless steel (0.01 -0.015), nearly rivaling PTFE (AKA Teflon). When paired with a modern polished ceramic (such as a ceramic guide ring), the CoF drops even lower.
Damage from friction can come from heat or wear.
The heat generated will be a function of the CoF, the load pressing the surfaces together, velocity and time. Since the COF is so low, it is nearly impossible to generate enough heat to enable elongation (~180 F). Also, since the line is constantly moving during this time, each little bit of line is only briefly passing over the friction generating surfaces. The ring is constantly being cooled by fresh line passing over it, not to mention convection and conduction of heat away from the contact area.
The ring itself would have to get well over 180F to heat the line to the point where elongation from heat and load is occurring. I don't see this happening, but you can always point an IR thermometer at the ring after a big run and see for yourself.
And with that extremely low CoF, frictional wear under load is not going to be an issue. Remember that the friction is spread out over a long section of line. The line will fail far sooner from UV damage and fiber fractures (see below).
Gelspun UHMWPE does have one unique property to consider: while it is remarkably durable for loads along the direction of the fibers, it has surprisingly low compressive yield strength across the fibers (i.e., brittle). This is the tradeoff from converting a semi-crystalline molecular structure to a long chain. No free lunch in material science.
When braid is bent around an object under load, the larger the radius, the longer the fibers will resist fracture. Your roller guides will help here, but my wager would be that the benefit would be so small that it would be insignificant, especially with proper placement ofthe ring guides on the blank.
This has lead me to the conclusion that for modern braid: while the majority of "technical" marketing claims about the performance of rollers or one grade of ceramic over another ("Lower Friction!", "Less Heat!") might be technically correct, the actual differences are so insignificant that they are functionally irrelevant.
YMMV,
-J
Quote from: boon on August 31, 2025, 04:58:28 AMThere's nothing wrong with SiC ring guides. If you were primarily fishing braid on a 30lb lineclass rod that's what I'd be using. On a primarily mono setup like yours, I think those Alps rollers will be really nice. Keep the weight down slightly and maximise the action of the rod.
At the same time, if you wanted to maximise the action of a 30lb rod you wouldn't be using a 30-50lb blank. Just my opinion.
My fishing setup and configuration mainly involves premium 30-lb nylon, generally I prefer Andes or Varivas. The depths where I practice offshore trolling are quite deep, on average around 2600 feet. The size of the fish I target is generally small, compared to what an ocean angler can catch. I always have a good supply of 16X Hollowcore on the reels, about 650 yards, to which I attach about 300 yards of 30-lb line. In the Mediterranean, a fish that can take 300 yards of line is a rare occurrence. The choice of roller alps is forced by the fact that any set of SIC guides always generates more friction than roller alps guides. Using the latter is advantageous because the drag can rise to 50% of the breaking strain of the line on the spool, so about 7 kg / 15 lbs. Especially when you want to retrieve a fish as quickly as possible to release it in optimal condition. The 30/50 blank is designed to deliver a fairly strong punch on the strike. Keep in mind that nylon is stretchy, especially when you have about 90 yards of line in the water. I think I've made my case. Feel free to ask for further clarification.
You are adding unnessassary weight to your rod.
Quote from: jurelometer on August 31, 2025, 03:56:24 PMI agree with the other sceptics.
A bit on what I have gleaned from the science:
Spectra/Dyneema braid is made of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene ((UHMWPE), which has an astoundingly low coefficient of friction when paired with polished stainless steel (0.01 -0.015), nearly rivaling PTFE (AKA Teflon). When paired with a modern polished ceramic (such as a ceramic guide ring), the CoF drops even lower.
Damage from friction can come from heat or wear.
The heat generated will be a function of the CoF, the load pressing the surfaces together, velocity and time. Since the COF is so low, it is nearly impossible to generate enough heat to enable elongation (~180 F). Also, since the line is constantly moving during this time, each little bit of line is only briefly passing over the friction generating surfaces. The ring is constantly being cooled by fresh line passing over it, not to mention convection and conduction of heat away from the contact area.
The ring itself would have to get well over 180F to heat the line to the point where elongation from heat and load is occurring. I don't see this happening, but you can always point an IR thermometer at the ring after a big run and see for yourself.
And with that extremely low CoF, frictional wear under load is not going to be an issue. Remember that the friction is spread out over a long section of line. The line will fail far sooner from UV damage and fiber fractures (see below).
Gelspun UHMWPE does have one unique property to consider: while it is remarkably durable for loads along the direction of the fibers, it has surprisingly low compressive yield strength across the fibers (i.e., brittle). This is the tradeoff from converting a semi-crystalline molecular structure to a long chain. No free lunch in material science.
When braid is bent around an object under load, the larger the radius, the longer the fibers will resist fracture. Your roller guides will help here, but my wager would be that the benefit would be so small that it would be insignificant, especially with proper placement ofthe ring guides on the blank.
This has lead me to the conclusion that for modern braid: while the majority of "technical" marketing claims about the performance of rollers or one grade of ceramic over another ("Lower Friction!", "Less Heat!") might be technically correct, the actual differences are so insignificant that they are functionally irrelevant.
YMMV,
-J
Look, I get where you're coming from, but your take is way too "lab-perfect" and doesn't hold up once you put it on the water. Yeah, UHMWPE's got a super low coefficient of friction against polished steel or ceramic, no argument there. But those numbers come from clean, ideal test setups. Out in the real world you've got salt crust, sand, micro scratches on your guides, even dried slime. Once that junk gets in the mix, that silky-smooth CoF you're quoting isn't the number you're actually fishing with.
Same thing with the heat argument. Saying it's "basically impossible" to hit temps that soften braid sounds good on paper, but it skips the reality of hot spots. Sure, the line's moving and the guides do bleed off heat, but those quick, high-pressure contacts can spike hotter than you think—hot enough to nick fibers even if your IR gun shows everything's cool afterwards. By the time you're measuring, the peak's long gone. Run into a tuna that dumps half your spool against a locked-down drag, and suddenly the theory feels a lot shakier.
On wear, you downplay friction way too much. Anyone who's snapped braid right at the guide knows those breaks aren't from UV or "fiber fatigue over years." They happen because of localized abrasion and compression where the line bends tight. And that ties straight into your own point about UHMWPE being brittle across the fibers—tight radiuses under load are exactly where braid dies, which is why guide design still matters.
And yeah, roller guides might be overkill if you're throwing plugs for schoolie stripers, but lumping all "premium" ceramics or rollers into the "marketing gimmick" bucket is oversimplifying. On the light stuff, sure, you won't notice much. But when you're trolling big gear offshore or fighting fish that run like freight trains, those marginal gains suddenly aren't so marginal. That's exactly when engineering differences go from "irrelevant" to "saved my ####."
Bottom line: your post takes some solid science but stretches it way too far, ignoring the messy realities of fishing. Guides, rollers, materials—they don't exist for the average cast and retrieve. They're built for those edge cases where gear gets pushed past normal, and that's when the "irrelevant" stuff is exactly what keeps you from popping off a trophy fish
:) I am reading your posts , what is your native language ? I ask this because maybe , we can find u tubes in your language , without loosing translating words and slang terms .
I like roller guides on fishing rods , for the looks and the performance it has to offer . Some believe it is old school . Rollers help spool the line on the reel at times and gives you the height to keep the line off your fingers at the fore grip when under load .
I am now learning about single foot roller guides. Very interesting rod build you are doing .
Quote from: oldmanjoe on September 05, 2025, 01:13:24 AM:) I am reading your posts , what is your native language ? I ask this because maybe , we can find u tubes in your language , without loosing translating words and slang terms .
I like roller guides on fishing rods , for the looks and the performance it has to offer . Some believe it is old school . Rollers help spool the line on the reel at times and gives you the height to keep the line off your fingers at the fore grip when under load .
I am now learning about single foot roller guides. Very interesting rod build you are doing .
I am a native Italian speaker but I speak fluent French.
Quote from: MexicanGulf on September 05, 2025, 01:22:08 AMQuote from: oldmanjoe on September 05, 2025, 01:13:24 AM:) I am reading your posts , what is your native language ? I ask this because maybe , we can find u tubes in your language , without loosing translating words and slang terms .
I like roller guides on fishing rods , for the looks and the performance it has to offer . Some believe it is old school . Rollers help spool the line on the reel at times and gives you the height to keep the line off your fingers at the fore grip when under load .
I am now learning about single foot roller guides. Very interesting rod build you are doing .
I am a native Italian speaker but I speak fluent French.
:) And here I though with a forum name ,Mexican gulf It was Spanish speaking . This will help others to fine U Tubes in Italian or French .
Quote from: MexicanGulf on September 05, 2025, 12:36:58 AMQuote from: jurelometer on August 31, 2025, 03:56:24 PMI agree with the other sceptics.
A bit on what I have gleaned from the science:
Spectra/Dyneema braid is made of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene ((UHMWPE), which has an astoundingly low coefficient of friction when paired with polished stainless steel (0.01 -0.015), nearly rivaling PTFE (AKA Teflon). When paired with a modern polished ceramic (such as a ceramic guide ring), the CoF drops even lower.
Damage from friction can come from heat or wear.
The heat generated will be a function of the CoF, the load pressing the surfaces together, velocity and time. Since the COF is so low, it is nearly impossible to generate enough heat to enable elongation (~180 F). Also, since the line is constantly moving during this time, each little bit of line is only briefly passing over the friction generating surfaces. The ring is constantly being cooled by fresh line passing over it, not to mention convection and conduction of heat away from the contact area.
The ring itself would have to get well over 180F to heat the line to the point where elongation from heat and load is occurring. I don't see this happening, but you can always point an IR thermometer at the ring after a big run and see for yourself.
And with that extremely low CoF, frictional wear under load is not going to be an issue. Remember that the friction is spread out over a long section of line. The line will fail far sooner from UV damage and fiber fractures (see below).
Gelspun UHMWPE does have one unique property to consider: while it is remarkably durable for loads along the direction of the fibers, it has surprisingly low compressive yield strength across the fibers (i.e., brittle). This is the tradeoff from converting a semi-crystalline molecular structure to a long chain. No free lunch in material science.
When braid is bent around an object under load, the larger the radius, the longer the fibers will resist fracture. Your roller guides will help here, but my wager would be that the benefit would be so small that it would be insignificant, especially with proper placement ofthe ring guides on the blank.
This has lead me to the conclusion that for modern braid: while the majority of "technical" marketing claims about the performance of rollers or one grade of ceramic over another ("Lower Friction!", "Less Heat!") might be technically correct, the actual differences are so insignificant that they are functionally irrelevant.
YMMV,
-J
Look, I get where you're coming from, but your take is way too "lab-perfect" and doesn't hold up once you put it on the water. Yeah, UHMWPE's got a super low coefficient of friction against polished steel or ceramic, no argument there. But those numbers come from clean, ideal test setups. Out in the real world you've got salt crust, sand, micro scratches on your guides, even dried slime. Once that junk gets in the mix, that silky-smooth CoF you're quoting isn't the number you're actually fishing with.
Same thing with the heat argument. Saying it's "basically impossible" to hit temps that soften braid sounds good on paper, but it skips the reality of hot spots. Sure, the line's moving and the guides do bleed off heat, but those quick, high-pressure contacts can spike hotter than you think—hot enough to nick fibers even if your IR gun shows everything's cool afterwards. By the time you're measuring, the peak's long gone. Run into a tuna that dumps half your spool against a locked-down drag, and suddenly the theory feels a lot shakier.
On wear, you downplay friction way too much. Anyone who's snapped braid right at the guide knows those breaks aren't from UV or "fiber fatigue over years." They happen because of localized abrasion and compression where the line bends tight. And that ties straight into your own point about UHMWPE being brittle across the fibers—tight radiuses under load are exactly where braid dies, which is why guide design still matters.
And yeah, roller guides might be overkill if you're throwing plugs for schoolie stripers, but lumping all "premium" ceramics or rollers into the "marketing gimmick" bucket is oversimplifying. On the light stuff, sure, you won't notice much. But when you're trolling big gear offshore or fighting fish that run like freight trains, those marginal gains suddenly aren't so marginal. That's exactly when engineering differences go from "irrelevant" to "saved my ####."
Bottom line: your post takes some solid science but stretches it way too far, ignoring the messy realities of fishing. Guides, rollers, materials—they don't exist for the average cast and retrieve. They're built for those edge cases where gear gets pushed past normal, and that's when the "irrelevant" stuff is exactly what keeps you from popping off a trophy fish
I think this post is straight AI and that makes me really sad.
A quick reminder that AI has never caught a fish and does not know anything about doing so.
Quote from: boon on September 05, 2025, 04:05:10 AMQuote from: MexicanGulf on September 05, 2025, 12:36:58 AMQuote from: jurelometer on August 31, 2025, 03:56:24 PMI agree with the other sceptics.
A bit on what I have gleaned from the science:
Spectra/Dyneema braid is made of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene ((UHMWPE), which has an astoundingly low coefficient of friction when paired with polished stainless steel (0.01 -0.015), nearly rivaling PTFE (AKA Teflon). When paired with a modern polished ceramic (such as a ceramic guide ring), the CoF drops even lower.
Damage from friction can come from heat or wear.
The heat generated will be a function of the CoF, the load pressing the surfaces together, velocity and time. Since the COF is so low, it is nearly impossible to generate enough heat to enable elongation (~180 F). Also, since the line is constantly moving during this time, each little bit of line is only briefly passing over the friction generating surfaces. The ring is constantly being cooled by fresh line passing over it, not to mention convection and conduction of heat away from the contact area.
The ring itself would have to get well over 180F to heat the line to the point where elongation from heat and load is occurring. I don't see this happening, but you can always point an IR thermometer at the ring after a big run and see for yourself.
And with that extremely low CoF, frictional wear under load is not going to be an issue. Remember that the friction is spread out over a long section of line. The line will fail far sooner from UV damage and fiber fractures (see below).
Gelspun UHMWPE does have one unique property to consider: while it is remarkably durable for loads along the direction of the fibers, it has surprisingly low compressive yield strength across the fibers (i.e., brittle). This is the tradeoff from converting a semi-crystalline molecular structure to a long chain. No free lunch in material science.
When braid is bent around an object under load, the larger the radius, the longer the fibers will resist fracture. Your roller guides will help here, but my wager would be that the benefit would be so small that it would be insignificant, especially with proper placement ofthe ring guides on the blank.
This has lead me to the conclusion that for modern braid: while the majority of "technical" marketing claims about the performance of rollers or one grade of ceramic over another ("Lower Friction!", "Less Heat!") might be technically correct, the actual differences are so insignificant that they are functionally irrelevant.
YMMV,
-J
Look, I get where you're coming from, but your take is way too "lab-perfect" and doesn't hold up once you put it on the water. Yeah, UHMWPE's got a super low coefficient of friction against polished steel or ceramic, no argument there. But those numbers come from clean, ideal test setups. Out in the real world you've got salt crust, sand, micro scratches on your guides, even dried slime. Once that junk gets in the mix, that silky-smooth CoF you're quoting isn't the number you're actually fishing with.
Same thing with the heat argument. Saying it's "basically impossible" to hit temps that soften braid sounds good on paper, but it skips the reality of hot spots. Sure, the line's moving and the guides do bleed off heat, but those quick, high-pressure contacts can spike hotter than you think—hot enough to nick fibers even if your IR gun shows everything's cool afterwards. By the time you're measuring, the peak's long gone. Run into a tuna that dumps half your spool against a locked-down drag, and suddenly the theory feels a lot shakier.
On wear, you downplay friction way too much. Anyone who's snapped braid right at the guide knows those breaks aren't from UV or "fiber fatigue over years." They happen because of localized abrasion and compression where the line bends tight. And that ties straight into your own point about UHMWPE being brittle across the fibers—tight radiuses under load are exactly where braid dies, which is why guide design still matters.
And yeah, roller guides might be overkill if you're throwing plugs for schoolie stripers, but lumping all "premium" ceramics or rollers into the "marketing gimmick" bucket is oversimplifying. On the light stuff, sure, you won't notice much. But when you're trolling big gear offshore or fighting fish that run like freight trains, those marginal gains suddenly aren't so marginal. That's exactly when engineering differences go from "irrelevant" to "saved my ####."
Bottom line: your post takes some solid science but stretches it way too far, ignoring the messy realities of fishing. Guides, rollers, materials—they don't exist for the average cast and retrieve. They're built for those edge cases where gear gets pushed past normal, and that's when the "irrelevant" stuff is exactly what keeps you from popping off a trophy fish
I think this post is straight AI and that makes me really sad.
A quick reminder that AI has never caught a fish and does not know anything about doing so.
I'm clumsy with technology, I can't get past Google Translate. 🤣😂
Rollers are so last millennium. I use ring guides on all my rods and have had no issues. I still have a 20# old Shimano Calcutta rod with ALWR and a couple of glass 6', 40-100 rated trollers with rollers. They don't get used much anymore.
Quote from: MexicanGulf on September 05, 2025, 12:36:58 AM:D
Look, I get where you're coming from, but your take is way too "lab-perfect" and doesn't hold up once you put it on the water. Yeah, UHMWPE's got a super low coefficient of friction against polished steel or ceramic, no argument there. But those numbers come from clean, ideal test setups. Out in the real world you've got salt crust, sand, micro scratches on your guides, even dried slime. Once that junk gets in the mix, that silky-smooth CoF you're quoting isn't the number you're actually fishing with.
Same thing with the heat argument. Saying it's "basically impossible" to hit temps that soften braid sounds good on paper, but it skips the reality of hot spots. Sure, the line's moving and the guides do bleed off heat, but those quick, high-pressure contacts can spike hotter than you think—hot enough to nick fibers even if your IR gun shows everything's cool afterwards. By the time you're measuring, the peak's long gone. Run into a tuna that dumps half your spool against a locked-down drag, and suddenly the theory feels a lot shakier.
On wear, you downplay friction way too much. Anyone who's snapped braid right at the guide knows those breaks aren't from UV or "fiber fatigue over years." They happen because of localized abrasion and compression where the line bends tight. And that ties straight into your own point about UHMWPE being brittle across the fibers—tight radiuses under load are exactly where braid dies, which is why guide design still matters.
And yeah, roller guides might be overkill if you're throwing plugs for schoolie stripers, but lumping all "premium" ceramics or rollers into the "marketing gimmick" bucket is oversimplifying. On the light stuff, sure, you won't notice much. But when you're trolling big gear offshore or fighting fish that run like freight trains, those marginal gains suddenly aren't so marginal. That's exactly when engineering differences go from "irrelevant" to "saved my ####."
Bottom line: your post takes some solid science but stretches it way too far, ignoring the messy realities of fishing. Guides, rollers, materials—they don't exist for the average cast and retrieve. They're built for those edge cases where gear gets pushed past normal, and that's when the "irrelevant" stuff is exactly what keeps you from popping off a trophy fish
Don't have time to dive in too deep again because I am out field testing :)
I take your point that estimating real world performance based on lab calculations is seldom perfectly accurate (BTW, this is especially true of Tribology), but simultaneously accepting and rejecting the science described in this thread based on claims of "quick, high-pressure contacts" and "the reality of hot spots" requires some evidence to back up these alternative explanations beyond observing that the line broke. At least if you want to convince me.
What evidence do you have to support these claims beyond product marketing literature? Not that the line breaks in certain situations, but evidence of your proposed underlying causes.
I have been trying to come up with reasonable arguments to support your belief in the functional superiority of rollers for braid.
The best situation that I came up with is high speed surface trolling of lures with lots of water resistance. A small section of line is going to contiously "saw" back and forth over the guides, most notably the tip, where the degree of bend in the line will tend to be highest. Here is a case of the same section of line getting repeatedly exposed to potential fiber fracture.
Interestingly, this type trolling is the last refuge of rods with roller guides, and during the transition away from roller guides for most types trolling of rods, the roller tip was often the only roller guide.
But nevertheless, ceramics have been steadily replacing rollers, even on very high end trolling gear. Only pockets of resistance remain.
Respectfully,
-J
Quote from: MarkT on September 05, 2025, 04:58:29 AMRollers are so last millennium. I use ring guides on all my rods and have had no issues. I still have a 20# old Shimano Calcutta rod with ALWR and a couple of glass 6', 40-100 rated trollers with rollers. They don't get used much anymore.
Like Mark I have several AR rods I rarely if ever use now. I do use rods with roller on the tip of the rods I use to fish for Pacific halibut and "long leader" due to the heavy weights needed to fish 300-700 feet deep (36-64 ounce) and vertical fishing.
A 30# class rod should be lite and rollers add extra weight, cost and more things to fail.
As a side note on temperature. 180*F could be easily reached when you factor the possibility of fishing in hot climates, maybe 100* to start with, then add friction. It's in the realm of possibilities. I'm not sure where in the world you could be to start at that temperature, maybe San Felipe, Cabo San Lucas, the Azores? Bill
Quote from: Bill B on September 07, 2025, 11:07:08 PMAs a side note on temperature. 180*F could be easily reached when you factor the possibility of fishing in hot climates, maybe 100* to start with, then add friction. It's in the realm of possibilities. I'm not sure where in the world you could be to start at that temperature, maybe San Felipe, Cabo San Lucas, the Azores? Bill
I just looked it up. The max intermittent operating temperature for UHMWPE is 200F.
They make thrust washers out of UHMWPE. In our case, the mating surface is polished ceramic. The PV (Pressure * Velocity)rating is for UHMWPE is 3000 ft.lbs/in².min at 100 ft per minute. So maybe up the velocity to 3000 f/m, and you are still around 1000 ft.lbs/in². No way that a 30 lb trolling outfit is going to create more surface pressure than is acceptable to use the material as a high performance bearing surface, which is more demanding than a guide ring.
If the ambient temperature is 70 F, the line will be at 70F. If the ambient temperature is at 100F, the line will be at 109F. It isnot going to get hotter. Significant sliding friction is going to be happening on the spool, when taking drag. The braid is going to be digging in and rubbing against adjacent fibers. Rollers arenot going to help you here.
As to stuff like grit: The grit gets trapped between the fibers (kinda hard to trap it on the surface). When the strands are compressed under load, the grit can damage the surrounding fiber. Rollers don't help here.
The greater the bend angle of the line across the guide you are replacing, the greater the diameter of the line, and the higher the CoF of the line on the guide that you are replacing, the more likely that you will find a benefit from rollers.
So back in the day, choosing rollers over chrome guides on a trolling rod that was pulling 100+ lb mono was a good idea. But modern ceramics and UHMWPE line makes for a super low CoF, braid line diameter is tiny, even at 130 lbs. Braid and ceramics have completely changed the situation.
In addition to maintenance issues, rollers also suck at passing knots, especially when casting. Even with trolling rods for billfish, it is nice to be able to pitch live baits with the same rods and not have to worry about the leader knot catching in the roller (this has happened to me).
They sell us the fishing tackle that we want to buy. Effectiveness is just one of the factors, and not a mandatory requirement. If we want "watermelon cotton candy" colored tuna poppers, they will sell them to us, and pump out pseudoscientific propaganda about why this color pattern is "effective".
The question is at hand is are there functional advantages to rollers nowadays, and if so in what situation.
But of course, if you like rollers and want to fish them, that is reason enough. This whole sportfishing thing is not an entirely rational exercise.
-J