Shimano stradic FL upgrade

[Brodie_S]

The other night I ordered a ceramic hybrid bearing to upgrade my Stradic FL 1000 to 7+1 ball bearings . The Stradic FL comes with 6 bushings and 7 bearings out of the factory if you done the full upgrade it would make the reel 12+1 ball bearings like the Stella . The upgrade I did was only a simple one as I didn’t want to upgrade the whole reel which requires taking it apart . The upgrade I did was replacing the bottom worm gear bushing with a bearing the reel feels slightly smoother and I’m happy with the result . The bearing size is RD11018 or 3X6X2.5mm if anyone wants to try it for a 1000 size Stradic you can use a regular cheap stainless steel bearing for like $5 or you can buy a ceramic hybrid bearing for $15-20 both should work just fine the ceramic hybrid bearings are more durable and longer lasting and also have less friction and don’t require lube . Sorry for the blurry photos my phone camera needs a repair I’m overall pretty happy with the result it’s noticeably smoother although I was still happy with the smoothness of the reel before the upgrade. 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Looks the goods, Bro. I would be tempted to make it 12 + 1 ball bearings. Then it would be REEL nice!

[Brodie_S]

1 hour ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Looks the goods, Bro. I would be tempted to make it 12 + 1 ball bearings. Then it would be REEL nice!

I don’t have that kind of experience on my belt and it would probably cost $100 just to buy 5 more bearings then I would also have to buy shimano grease to go over all the grease I would misplace by opening and touching parts on the reel . If I had more money and experience I would definitely be doing it as it would definitely be worth it . If I replaced all the bushings with bearings it wouldn’t be to far off Stella quality I think a Stradic FL with all bearings would be very close to a Stella in terms of performance and engineering they are pretty much the same reel with a few minor Differences such as weight and I also think the Stella has slightly more gear support and instead of a aluminium drive gear with black coating like in the Stradic the Stella has a brass main gear mating with I think a stainless steel pinion can’t confirm that but I’m pretty sure that’s what it has .one good thing about the Stradic is it doesn’t suffer gear lash which most reels on the market do only the best of best reels don’t get gear lash such as the daiwa exist shimano Stella  and now the Stradic FL and Vanford doesn’t suffer gear lash