Gear ratio change on Abu 6500

[Cooter]

Can you swap to a lower gear ratio with the C36500's? The 7000 kills my hand - I'm a reel palmer.

[JRedig]

What are you throwing with it?

[Cooter]

Lures.

[Cooter]

Had to do it!

Will be throwing big bucktails, the double bladed craze variety.

I realize I won't be able to burn them but wouldn't a lower ratio make things easier? Doesn't matter what I throw with the 7000, my hand still goes downhill in a hurry.

[Esox_Magnum]

I pull DCG's all day with a 300 Curado, its not all the gears that make them easy to retrieve. I pull them with all my reels from 4.7.1 to 6.3.1

[JRedig]

I guess it depends on if they're being burned or just retrieved. Or if you're using the reel handle as a lever and pulling sideways on it.

IME, the components in the C3 type reels won't last for DCG's and the speeds I fish them.

I think i'd be waiting to see if the new Abu Garcia Toro's can hold up, that would be the ultimate. They come in a lower gear ratio as one of the options and with a power handle. I'm not about to guinea pig them though, I break enough stuff as it is.

[MUSKY18]

Cooter:

Check out the new Abu reels that are coming out. They are low profile and have the same gear ratio as the 7000. Pearson had some up at Operation Muskie and let some of the guys test them out. Guys that used them, really liked them alot, and I guess they are pretty tough as well. The reels should be hiting the shelves sometime in the very near future.

[10,000 Casts]

Musky18 is right, I have been drooling over Toro since I first saw it. $279.99 I believe but I could be wrong.

My opinion but I am not too sure tht I would want to trust a foriegn gear system in a 6500c3. Is it an easy process to put a new system in? I have heard people talk about it but I can't say that I have talked to anyone that has ever done it.

[HugoBox]

Cooter - I have little kid hands and have had the same issue. That said I like the performance of the 7000's enough that I changed my grip a bit (easy fellas I can already imagine the shots I'll take for that statement) and am going to stick with the 7000's for another year. Also I just bought my second Curado 300 and am really anxious to see the reports on the Toro after a full year of abuse and testing by lots of folks.

[Cooter]

Thanks all - anyone know what these new Abus will be called? And about how much $$? I could save some money if I could just install new, lower gears in one of my 6500s. If it doesn't hold up I'll just rebuild - even if I get a year out of it with a little maintenance thats fine.

[JRedig]

I feel like the second paragraph of my post about Abu's is being totally ignored...

[Croix]

Be sure to wait until the finalized version of the Revo Toro comes out.I heard that the initial release of the Revo Toro's had a few flaws and were being addressed and the finalized product would be out, not sure if they are out yet?

[JRedig]

Be sure to wait until the finalized version of the Revo Toro comes out.I heard that the initial release of the Revo Toro's had a few flaws and were being addressed and the finalized product would be out, not sure if they are out yet?

You're right croix, their initial release had some issues but it was a small enough batch to be recalled or repaired in the field. The reels that get released now are supposed to have those issues resolved from what i've read. I'm still not gonna guinea pig a $280 reel. Some of the $200 reels I have are supposed to be bomb proof and proven, yet two of the three are in for repair...

[MUSKY18]

JREDIG:

I will beat the snot out of Pearson's this summer and see what they can take. Last year I almost caught a black bear with a DCG, but barely missed. This year I will actually catch it and test out the drag!!

[JRedig]

Make sure the camera is rolling for that one Bret!!!

[Cooter]

Back to the original question, can you swap to lower gears in a C36500?

[HugoBox]

Cooter -

shoot me an email eboxmeyer(at)arrow.com -- I found a reel repair site that may be able to give you the answer but they're not an FM partner so I didn't want to put it here.

- erik

[JRedig]

Try calling "Paul's Bait and Tackle" and asking for Eunice. 314-773-6221

I've used them for repairs on Shimano and Abu's, they are good with mods to the reels as well, knowledgeable and helpful, she can get the parts too.

[Cooter]

Thanks much guys!

[sbro73]

The Toro's are out and they are hot, picked up 2 at Thorne Bros. the other day, very impressed !!! Issues , What Issues !!! This reel rocks, may trade in my Calcutta TE's !!!

[JRedig]

The Toro's are out and they are hot, picked up 2 at Thorne Bros. the other day, very impressed !!! Issues , What Issues !!! This reel rocks, may trade in my Calcutta TE's !!!

How can you possibly say that with zero throw time? Part of 1 season by the abu factory guys hardly proves this reel can stand up to muskie fishing....don't get me wrong it looks like a great option and i'm hopeful it is. But it's not the first reel to come out and have everyone bubbling, except the rest end up the same way, busted and not *that* great.

[Nick Kuhn]

Quality testing on the reel in the design phase should have simulated up to 30 years of use. Granted sticking one on an Instron and cycling it for thousands upon thousands of casts and retrievals isn't quite the real thing, but it can be pretty close.

Whether or not Abu Garcia did that is another matter though. But generally engineers know exactly how something will perform, unless a factor is completely overlooked (which probably won't happen in the case of a reel, every reasonable thing a reel could be subjected to is pretty well understood).

[Cooter]

Sounds like a no go - they used to take gears out of C4 winch models, which Abu no longer carries.

[redbandit]

Try out the after market cranking handle that Abu sells. Might give you the extra leverage you need. Worked great for me.