# Abu Garcia VS Shimano



## southTXwader (Sep 18, 2011)

I decided to go at it again and add a new reel to my collection. I narrowed it to the new shimano chronarch and an abu garcia revo sx. In your opinion, which has the better hand? This reel would be paired with a falcon coastal xg 6'6" medium action. Thanks for your suggestions and opinions in advance!


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## 22'baykat (Aug 15, 2011)

Chronarch d series


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## rusty2009 (Mar 5, 2010)

Do the revo inshore also look at the Lews team pro for 199.00. I have all 3 and think the lews is lighter and smoother.


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## rsparker67 (Mar 30, 2008)

I'm curious about the Quantum EXO, anyone use or own one yet?


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

The d series is a great choice if you can find one. I hear the lew tournament pro is awesome and grew up with garcias but im an older shimano fan. I know its not either reel you mentioned but there are a fair share of people who think the 100d was nearly the perfect all around reel. The core one ups it by being lighter weight but same design. May have some disagree, oh well


-mac-


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## bubbas kenner (Sep 4, 2010)

To answer your question accurately I would have to own both reels you ask about, and I dont.What i can tell you is I have been using shimano chronach 100s and the curadosBSF200 for many years and there is no better.I did buy a revo MGX that I have not used yet.I dont like to be out casted and shouldnt any time soon.Sometimes distance is a great advantage.Just my opinion shimano have for years now held up to salt water with proper cleaning.Hope this helps dont mean to carry on too much but I love shimano baitcast.


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## BadCo (May 16, 2011)

Can't comment on the revo.......however, I will say I own every shimano reel from the calais down to the old chronarch, new chronarch 200e7 and a curado 200e5. All are supertuned with boca ceramics and my new lews outcast and outperforms any shimano I own. Go with a lews ten fold......


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## h_soape (Apr 9, 2006)

Talk to the guys in the reel section that clean reels everyday. They see more reels in a month than most fishermen will in a decade. They can also give you some insight on maintenance issues they see. If it were me that is what I would want to know. Most every reel cast well out of the box but how they perform 5 years down the road is what sets reels apart.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

Badco, did you get the tournament pro?


-mac-


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## Timalgrath (Jun 21, 2011)

im still gunna gonna have to go with neither lews kills them ....


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## Omanj (May 21, 2004)

I would go with the shimano. Two years ago I bought a Garcia Revo Inshore that felt great, cast great and one day the side plate fell off into the gulf at a near shore rig. I know that the plate (which was like a curado screw-on) had not been loosened by me, but apparently it had backed off. I had to send the reel to be repaired in Austin since no one in Houston carries spare side plates and they sent me back a new sideplate that was different. I used it about six times and the damned side plate came off and got swept away in the current at San Luis Pass. I bought a curado and never looked back. A $200.00 POS reel withoiut a side plate sits in my garage as a reminder to not buy another garcia reel.


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## stdreb27 (Aug 15, 2011)

Omanj said:


> I would go with the shimano. Two years ago I bought a Garcia Revo Inshore that felt great, cast great and one day the side plate fell off into the gulf at a near shore rig. I know that the plate (which was like a curado screw-on) had not been loosened by me, but apparently it had backed off. I had to send the reel to be repaired in Austin since no one in Houston carries spare side plates and they sent me back a new sideplate that was different. I used it about six times and the damned side plate came off and got swept away in the current at San Luis Pass. I bought a curado and never looked back. A $200.00 POS reel withoiut a side plate sits in my garage as a reminder to not buy another garcia reel.


lol, if you ever feel like gettin rid of it? shoot me a PM...

I have an sx and a 200E Curado. I like my Curado better... But and this is a big but... I really really like my premier.

Usually


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## shauntexex (Dec 12, 2007)

Revo premier Love mine y'all can have your shimanos my revo outcast them all


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

All my shimanos cast as far as i need them to! What good is casting far if you get a hit you miss the trout because you didnt realize that my shimanos cast so far that the hooks rusted off before the the lure hit the water? (sarcasm) I love my shimanos man! Ive got a cu200 and calcutta that ive been fishing with more than 15 years and they both still have original everything and their cherry was popped long ago, believe me. Not knockin the "other" reels by any means, but you gotta admit shimanos have a pretty good following by lots of great fisherman. JMO guys


-mac-


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## El Primero (Jun 14, 2008)

I have 2 stx-hs revo's and really like them, they have I think around 22-24 lbs of drag available and the fast gear-ratio. You can get in a bullred super fast if u need to, instances such as sight casting with multiple targets available. I have a premiere also, that when new was awesome. It didn't hold up to well for me though. The new shimano's are sweet too, think both products will treat you right. Good luck.


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## ol' salt (Jun 11, 2006)

Fished Ambssadeurs and Revos since 1956. Started using Shimano 200's about 3 years ago. Like them a lot. Much easier to adjust on the fly and very castable. Downside, they are loose and get gritty easily, from sand adhering to braid I guess, as I never dunk them. I do take them apart and clean them after every trip. I fish at least 1 day a week and only throw plugs, so they are well used.


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## SaltyShaw (Oct 30, 2011)

Shimano hands down
Abu is Abu and the revo series are nice light and smooth, but do not hold up in saltwater.
Lews is not a bad reel either nice and smooth and cast great, but I havent heard enough on them to see how they hold up in the salty environment.


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## J.T. Barely (Jan 28, 2012)

I recently purchased an Abu Garcia mgx. I haven't used it much so it's durability is still in question. But I have never seen anything lighter and you can literally cast a topwater too far! Just my opinion, but I feel I have seen a decline in the quality of Shimano in the past few years.


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## whalerguy28 (Jun 3, 2009)

It seems like Shimano's craftsmanship is going way down on their new reels, they don't last long at all with heavy saltwater use. I have calcuttuas and I think they are the best ones they still make and hold up great.


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## 22'baykat (Aug 15, 2011)

I heard lews were hard to get parts for should anything go wrong... Aren't they made by zebco?


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## Timalgrath (Jun 21, 2011)

maybe 10 years ago in 2010 lynn reeve bought them if i need parts i get them in 72 hours.... and its almost been 8 months no salt water issues what so ever the new lews is completely different from what they were when browning owned them. http://lews.com/lews-today.htm

their service is based out of Springfield MO.


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## philliwt (Aug 26, 2009)

If you are interested in the new Shimano Chronarch 200e7/201e7 there no reason to go spend the $200 on it when it's just the Shimano Curado 200e7/201e7 with a different paint job. Go in eBay and buy a Shimano 200e7/201e7 for 110-130 and save the extra 70-90 dollars.


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## LHandler (Aug 22, 2011)

Shimano


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## big_zugie (Mar 14, 2006)

Most important thing to me when buying a reel is which has the most parts avalible


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## alldaylong (Mar 6, 2011)

_*I'm kinda bias here, Shimano has been my reel of choice for over 20 yrs. now. I have a Chronarch Bantam 100, also one of the new model Curado 200E. The Bantam is time tested and been reliable like a fine Swiss watch, after 21 plus yrs. It still cast great, has all the power I need to turn and fight a fish, I've used it in both fresh and saltwater applications, as far as the Curado is concerned, so far it has been just as flawless although, I have read of some issues with bearings and handles, I have yet to experience these things. This reel to date has done fresh and salt duties as well, it's taken a couple of good dunks in the surf, only time will tell of it's durability. From my viewpoint your decision is easy. My 2 cents!!! :biggrin:
*_


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## Pete A. (Dec 10, 2010)

For casting performance I've had great sucess with Diawa, Abu & Shimano better reels. Hard to spot a difference here at all on better reels.

Corrosion resistance next? Well they all corrode plain & simple. They all will give up the ghost here if not given quick attention in salt applications.

Some though are much easier to fix!!

For me the reason for Shimano over rest is simply that the Drive Shaft Bearing is held on the shaft at the bottom by a C-clip.

Sounds dumb, right. Well try getting a bearing out of a frame with not all the much corrosion. The Shimano bearing pulls out of the frame afixed on the shaft while the other quite often stay fixed/stuck with the corroded frame. Frames are darn easy to ruin trying to remove a corroded in bearing. I got 3 frames I've had to replace with stuck in bearing by Diawa & Revo. Frames are expensive!

Plus Shimano stays with a darn simple time proven totally *UN-COMPLEX* casting brake. Other reels got all kinds of baggage; springs, rollers, magnets, ...,....,..... IMHO far too many parts for reels that probably sometime somewhere will get soaked in salt water.

Pete A.


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## Jeff SATX (Jan 18, 2011)

philliwt said:


> If you are interested in the new Shimano Chronarch 200e7/201e7 there no reason to go spend the $200 on it when it's just the Shimano Curado 200e7/201e7 with a different paint job. Go in eBay and buy a Shimano 200e7/201e7 for 110-130 and save the extra 70-90 dollars.


 this


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## cpthook (Jan 16, 2008)

Shamino hs been the reel of choice for 99% of the serious Texas costal fishermen and holds up "ok" to excessive saltwater. I do allot of wading as well as boat fishing, I'm hard on my gear, but not afraid to use it. Every time I break one down it has allot of salt and corrosion in them. Fortunately I clean my own reels so it is not a problem. With that being said I would go with a Shamino instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, or try a possible unproven product. I've always gone with the latest Shamino when I've need a new reel. I had 3 200E7s until last summer I took a Vietnam vet adn his 2 cop sons fishing. One of the cops accidently threw my Skeleton and 200E7 overboard. I recently replaced it with a Cumulus and a Core50. Its hard to fish a 200E7 after fishing the core simply because I like light reels.


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## Micheletti (Feb 14, 2012)

LEWS!!!!!!!!!!!


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## due_south_brewery (Nov 17, 2010)

I had a Revo SX and didn't really like it in comparison to the Chronarch. Shimano for my money.


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## Backcast (Jul 22, 2005)

I just got the Core 50 and put on the 6'10" Cumulus. Fished one time with the Core and I like it. I never liked palming the Chronarchs but the Core was easy to palm. Put Suffix 832 on it. you can really feel the taps from fish.

Looking forward to wading and chunking a 1/16 oz led head in Mansfield.

Joe


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

The chronarch100d7 is the same size as the core just not as light right? 


-mac-


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## dezal (Feb 8, 2010)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> The chronarch100d7 is the same size as the core just not as light right?
> 
> -mac-


The chronarch has a bigger spool. the Curado 50 e is the exact same size just heavier. I agree with backlash. Core 50 with suffix 832 is good set up.

One you feel how light to core is its hard to fish with anything heavier. Its very comfortable. I love the stradic CI4 too. It seems like my lighter setups through further than my slightly heavier ones. My .02


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## RRfisher (Mar 5, 2007)

I've had my SX since I joined 2cool and I have never had a problem with it outside of a little corrosion on the corners of the thumb bar. Corrosion X fixed that problem.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

This is what i meant, i know the core is lighter but the same shape


-mac-


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## Pete A. (Dec 10, 2010)

My favorite current wading rig is a Curado 50E with 20# 832 on an American Rodsmith Troutmaster Lite 6'-6". I changed out the EVA grips for Tour grips. EVA is way way too slippery after handling a few rat reds or undersized trout. Tour grip fixes that. Love this rig.

However was fishing with Bink Grimes who had similar Waterloo rod with Core 50. Felt it a bit and now I am lusting after a Core 50. Lighter for my not so young wrists.

Need, no. Want, yes. What other justification is required?

Pete A.


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## J.T. Barely (Jan 28, 2012)

The MGX is lighter than the Core 50.


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## SaltyShaw (Oct 30, 2011)

Core 50 is "tits"


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