Hi all,

I'm going to buy a centrepin for the new season. Looking at prices I'm reuctant to spend >£200 on a 'pin.

I was either going to buy an Okuma Aventa Pro which a friend of mine has and they are really nice reels.

I noticed that the Youngs Aerodex is available at about £140. Has anyone used one of these and, if so, are they any better than the Okuma.

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Cheers,
Lawrence

My mate has just purchased one of these brand new off ebay. He is a little concerned as the best 'spin' he can get is less than 30seconds.

He is due to use it this weekend so I should have a report on how it fishes after that.

Just as a pointer, do these reels need 'running in' before they spin well? I know that the spin time is not that important but I would have thought it would be better than that even straight out of the box.

I looked at an Aerodex before buying the Purist II, I'd stick with the Okuma if I were you.

TF

spin time all hype... main thing is what yu are going to use it for,,,

Thanks for the quick replies. Having tried out an Okuma I was well impressed with the smoothness of it.

My local tackle shop has both Okumas and the Purist reels. I'm not sure there's a great deal of difference between the two brands other than the staggering difference in price.

Interestingly I see Hardy's are bringing out a range of coarse tackle for this year. High prices but I wouldn't expect anything else from them. I'm sure they're very good but I'm not prepared to spend £200+ on a rod ... I think I have enough rods already ...

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Cheers,
Lawrence

Yes
Bought one last year of ebay, suberb reel. Spin time does not matter. With this reel you have compete control over the speed while trotting. Looks good also. I am not very good a casting with it but intend to master it in time. First time that I used the reel trotting with an avon float I caught a 5lb chub and a 7lb barbel on a size 18 hook with a 3.2lb hook length and went home a happy man.

Well, I said I'd get back after my mate used his Aerodex. We got out yesterday in the wind so here's my verdict!

Firstly, he purchased his Aerodex from e-bay (new). The first reel arrived as I said, not spinning at all well. On closer inspection the black centre release boss was seen to be out of true - not good enough on a product of this price, I feel. The reel was replaced immidiately by the supplier - no quibbles - he also gave him a Youngs reel pouch for his trouble. However he said he had "had a few" Youngs centrepins returned with faults. I feel this points to an obvious quality control problem with Youngs at present.

On inspection of the new reel, it spun much smoother but at higher speeds there was some vibration and noise evident. Also, I noted the spool had some 'rocking' play in it - not sure if this is normal.

I had a careful inspection of the Okuma Sheffield when we dropped in to the tackle shop on the way for maggots. The reel felt much more solid than the Aerodex, spun way, way smoother and was without noise or vibration (and the check sounded much nicer! Not cheap and grating like the Youngs). The man in the shop also said he rated the Sheffield over any of the Youngs reels which he also sells.

On the river, the Aerodex did everything I asked it to (but did not cast 'off the reel' anywhere near as nice as my old Youngs Rapidex - probably I would need to get used to it for that). Could it also possibly improve with use?

I was concerned at the very open nature of the checkwork on the Aerodex(seems to be a feture of many modern 'pins). After half a day's use it had maize dust form the maggots and other dirt in it. Easy to clean but still a possible problem.

On balance, I think I would go for the Okuma Sheffield over the Youngs Aerodex every time. It just felt so much more of a piece of quality engineering than the Aerodex. Indeed, I have ordered one from She Who Must Be Obeyed for by birthday box!!!

I realise a lot of this is personal opinion but i hope it is of some help.

Maybe I'm wrong, but are we comparing apples with apples? The Okuma runs on bearings but isn't the Aerodex a "proper" pin? Bearings reels will always spin for longer, not that that really means anything, but they are two different engineering designs of reel aren't they? Personally I prefer the bearings designs. I know the Okuma's are highly rated, and that would be my choice if I were looking for a new one without breaking the bank.

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Jeff,

the Youngs Aerodex also runs on bearings just like the Okuma Sheffield and Aventa Pro reels.

I'm not saying the Youngs Aerodex is a bad reel just that I have concerns over both it's design and build quality. To me, the Okuma Sheffield also had a much nicer 'feel' and sound to it.

Thanks for clarifying that, I did have an old Youngs Trudex, which was a "proper" pin but never really got on with it - I hadn't realised the Aerodex was a bearings model. As regards Okuma, I rate them alongside Shimano for top quality precision engineering and although I was impressed by their Aventa Pro model when I was playing with it in the tackle shop a while back, I've never seen an Aerodex to compare it to, so it interesting you prefer the Okuma. Incidentally, their Epix Pro fixed spool reels are excellent too - super smooth - and still sensible prices.

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