Maxel Hybrid 20 - Quick look and observation

[hafnor]

So last year spring I bought myself a Maxel hybrid 20. For those not acquainted with maxel reels and gear Maxel I believe is a chinese brand who is either hardcopying jigging master or is a rebranded reel from a oem company which means that JM powerspell reels are aswell. However the powerspell series reels and Maxels transformer series reels are identical on the inside. except a few tweeks on its cosmetics that includes different handle, t-bar, drag lever. I still believe that these reels are the ferraris of the convention reels out there with their twin drag constuction, dual AR bearings and dog/dogs and more..... The maxel reels are way cheaper in price so I have sold my jm´s and replaced them with maxel. This is the first time I have tried their star drag model.

Here goes; This is a small size star drag reel costing 250-300 usd. gear ratio 5:1 cap. approx 300m#40. max drag 28 lb(manufacturer spec)



Pretty nice little reel. I really like the thumb release free spool - like a baitcaster. it is very nice to palm and fearly light at approx. 340gm. magnetic cast control and cast control knob. round eva knob.


unscrew the main nut retainer by small flathead and unscrew the handle nut with adjustable wrench. unscrew the star drag tensioner (beautiful piece btw...) Inside you will find a keyed ss fitting for the handle and 5 bellevilles in: ()()) config.there is also a traditional inside built clicker that ticks when you turn the stardrag. ss washer before right side handle shaft bearing (can pop out from outside aswell)



three hex hold the right side plate, and the body pops out. here you will easily access the ar bearing, handle bearing, ar gear sleeve. notice the cast adjustment knob double tasking as a pinion gear stabilizer. there is also a tiny bearing held by a mini retainer on the inside of the house (forgot pic)


behind that huge main gear is 6 wowen carbon fibre drag washers. last on the left is the anti reverse dog bracket. (similar to shimano/daiwa design)



entire yoke exposed. The gear/handle shaft sits on a single bearing engroved inside the reels frame. All metal except the plastic plate retaining the springs and pinion gear. notice the ar dog sitting top in the pic, and the clutch dog on the bottom. left in the picture attached by a large flat head screw sits the freespool engager that engraves the freespool thumb plate attached to the frame.


Spool is a narrow frame design, with integrated clicker plate. easy pin removal to access right side bearing/spoolshaft.


Main frame with magnets for the cast control and clicker assembly. The bearing sits in its cup with retainer. On the left you see the spool thumb release that fits snugly inside the "horseshoe" freespool engager.

So I have used this reel for a two week trip this summer and fished it every day. The reel was preserviced out the box before use, and I have not run into any problems yet. We caught halibut up to 60-70 lb with this reel with no problems at all.

the reel was entirily taken apart and cleaned with cleaning agent, dried and the regreased/oiled. All static parts are painted with yamalube, bearings are left open with tsi 301 (want a light feel to the reel), cals on main gear and all drag-washers. Synthetic oil (reelbutter from Ardent inside the ar-bearing. Freespool is about 30-50 sec. depending on tuning on the cast controls and how good you are at spinning this tiny spool.

I really like the design, fit (clearances), looks of it, and ease of handling. Looks to be very solid built, with little spared on parts. Nothing revolutionary about its engineering as you find the configuration a proven design built by many other manufacturers but I think the spool thumb release sets it a little bit apart from competition... I will use it for jigging and baitfishing primarily but this would be a monster salmon, casting reel aswell. Let me know what you think about this reel!?

Best - Thor  

[Alto Mare]

Wow, cool looking reel. I was actually looking at these a little while back, thanks for sharing your experience with us.
The wall on the main gear looks shallow for all those washers, do you mind measuring the thickness of the washers, the metal and Carbon Fibers?

good job Thor!

Sal

[hafnor]

Ofcourse Sal! I Would have to open it up and measure but I am pretty sure these are 0,5 or 0,25 mm thick.

As for external measurments the handle arm measures in at 85 mm (centre to centre), knob is 41mm across, spool is 20mm wide and the left side body stands 55mm tall (excluding reel foot). Height on the right hand side which includes the gearbox measures 75mm.

[Alto Mare]

No Thor, do not open it up again, I thought it was still being serviced.
Thank you!

[MarkT]

Cool reel but twindrag?

[hafnor]

twin drag as I wrote in the beginning of the post was a description of jm pe reels and maxel transformer reels. The Maxel Hybrid here shown is a star drag reel.

[Alto Mare]

Thanks for the additional measurements Thor.
I like the shape of that handle as well, didn't realize it was that thick.
A nice looking and very capable reel.

Sal

[boon]

Some history here, as I understand it:

JM and Maxel are both Taiwanese. If you ask China they will tell you that Taiwan is China but if you ask Taiwan you will get a different answer.
Taiwanese manufacturing is not the same as Chinese.

I believe that originally Maxel was building JM's reels for them, hence the massive similarities between them (although most JMs from this period buzz due to sprung dogs, whereas the Maxels are silent).
I think this is no longer the case, and JM is either building their own reels or having them made by another factory. I could be wrong here though and they may still be getting built by Maxel.

Maxel has built some funny reels over the years - their original twin-drag setup was not allowed to be sold in the US as it infringed upon Accurate's patent, however they made a single drag reel that was exactly the same as the dual drag but had dummy parts on the left side of the spool, for sale in the US market. You could actually just buy the "spare parts" from a proper twin drag one and convert the reels back if you wanted to.

Here in NZ they were a bit "less known" and for a time they were being sold at a huge discount before the brand really took off. I should have bought a couple. Oh well.

[redsetta]

One important difference with the JM version is the near-solid handle blade.
The lattice-like construction of the Maxel arm can struggle to meet the heavy duty demands of speed jigging.
A friend had his Maxel handle sheer off on Saturday. Luckily, there was just enough stub left on the drive shaft that he still managed to boat the fish.
The skipper had spare handles on board, because '...it's not the first time it's happened.'