Hi all, anyone ever owned a shakespeare summit reel ?? They are dirt cheap which always makes me suspicious. A good reel for less than £15?? sounds too good to be true and in my experience that always means it is. Anyway would love to be proved wrong.
cheers
Al.

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I purchased one last week as a back up, they are a sturdy looking reel and well worth the money, they would be a nice wee river reel,
Only thing wrong i had to return mine, as the reel foot was to thick for my Sharpes Gordon rod,
Don't know if this is the case with other rods,
Only tried it on the Gordon.

Hi,

I recently took delivery of the Shakespeare Expedition Salmon rod and Summit reel and have to say for the money the rod is great.. a tad too heavy for me but finished ok and does exactly as it says on the tin.

The reel however, which comes with a spare spool has a cheap aluminium Frame and is not "light weight"! but obviously does what a reel is made for.. holding the fly line while off the water but cosmetically.. it's I suppose worth the £11.99 - £22.99 (John Norris prices) but if you can afford the extra then invest in something else.

Debs...

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This is what i thought, i only require the reel to hold a 3 weight line so no flashyness is needed. However i hate heavy reels. ManyThanks for your input.
cheers
Al.

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" How differently I might behave if immortality were an option ".

The one thing that you must NOT do with these reels is attempt to change spools. The reel is made to very wide tolerances, and frequently (ie, most of the time) the spools do not fit properly. If you take off the original spool - and I don't advise it - you will see a stainless steel thrust washer. This may have come off with the spool, stuck to the excessive grease that these reels all seem to have. If it is stuck to the grease, watch you don't drop and loose it!
Underneath the stainless washer can be found up to three copper shims, meant to take up the slack of an ill fitting spool. When changing the spool, you need to check whether you need 1, 2, 3 or no shims to get the new spool to seat properly!
NO - changing spools is a nightmare, particularly in the field. Having said that, they are cheap enough to carry spare reels rather than spare spools.

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AS jeremyB says the reel is what you pay for, ive had one for 3 years or more now and havnt used it more than twice, ive got 3 spare spools and all dont fit right, you have juggle them about pay abit more for a reel is my adviceand im tight

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But the finish is amongst the worst I have ever seen, sharp edges and all.
No thanks. Not a patch on the old Rimfly 100 series and they were cheaper, better and have Orvis warranty.
Rusty