Penn 525 mag2 multiplier

[j the kipper]

What are these reels like ah? i like the look of em, and they seem to have a good write up at £149.99 and a lot of anglers have em, thinking of getting one

[Davey-m]

Also look at the Penn fathom 15.

[rod-the-cod]

The new penn mags don't seem no where as good quality as the USA made reels I had a look at the fathom the other day looks nice wee will see if they last as long as the earlier versions

[Sea_Troot]

if your guna get a penn 525 make sure its one that one that was made in usa, build quality is a lot better than they are now.

penn's made in usa are bomb proof, Solid as a rock i bought 2 off Davey M and there good reels. Good casting distance am good pulling power.

Hope this helps.

[mic1978]

i had a mag 2 did not like it one bit i sold it after using it about 3 times i'm sticking to my old 525 mags which are bomb proof i would look out for the old ones

[rod-the-cod]

Penn is like Abu now crap made in china

[j the kipper]

re 525mag 2

thanks lads for the info

[fish fingers]

thier is a few nice features on them but if only they were on the old 1,s like they say they are crap

[wheres the fish?]

Wasnt there a thing where the spool was sticking and causing nests?

[Persues]

It seems that many reels are problematic.

Sl30SH (and the 20) have a common problem that regularly causes failure and yet they are still popular and often recommended.

Abu quality has gone downhill; presumably the result of a concerted effort to increase profit margins which can rarely be done without sacrificing build quality.

Penn reels, from what I understand, appear to live in the "Made in the USA" camp, in which case they tend to be highly thought of, or the "not made in the USA" camp.

I often hear 'cheap crap made in China' or similar comments, which is a little baffling since some excellent stuff comes out of that country. Some junk comes out as well, granted, but ironically my SL30SH reels (one of which blew up spectacularly mid-cast 2 months into ownership from new) are made in Thailand according to the stamp on the reel foot and they have a very serious design flaw which has absolutely nothing to do with country of origin. Does Thailand instill greater end product confidence than China ?

Akios have their work cut out for them since they are competing with big players who have the market more or less sewn up. They offer seriously good products at very aggressive prices but loads of folks won't go near anything unless it has Penn, Diawa or Abu stamped all over it. They took a great base product and built it tougher, which is all Abu had to do in the first place. The minute they started trying to shove higher retrieve ratios out there without building stringer gearing they were doomed (just my opinion).

I think perception and bias has a lot to do with things these days. If enough folks say that item X is great, it becomes great, whether it is or not. The same can be said if enough people say something is crap.

I love my Akios reels and will be buying more of them. I hate my SL30SH reels, but even if I loved them I would still be highly unimpressed with one failing just a few weeks from new, which would swing my perception and I would tell everyone I know, and if enough people repeat it...

The bottom line as far as I can see is that there are more people out there prepared to spend £150 on a reel than there are who will (or who can) spend £300 on one, so manufacturers have to come up with methods of building products down to an acceptable price to the consumer.

Would all the SL30SH fans out there be willing to pay double or triple for their reel if it arrived in a single piece machined aircraft aluminium cage ?

For everyone who says they'd pay for quality, loads of others expect it built into their kit regardless of its price or country of origin and you simply can't make and sell something for £150 that costs the same to build as a £300 item.

By and large the above manufacturers make and sell a lot of their respective end product(s) and the failure rate is probably very low; well within typically manufacturing tolerances I would imagine. The internet, being what it is, fosters an environment where horror stories spread quickly and it doesn't take long before all reels in a particular model range or even all reels from a particular manufacturer are branded as crap. Refer back to "if enough people repeat it, it becomes fact".

I'm not excusing or condoning manufacturers who produce poor products, but I think that realistically there will be far more satisfied than dissatisfied customers out there of current products from Abu, Penn, Daiwa et al

You can't survive if your products consistently fail at a high rate. I just think today's technology allows everyone to hear about the failures more easily and, as we all know, every story grows with the telling.

A mate of mine has a brand spanking Abu and he absolutely loves it. Another mate gave me a Made in Sweden mag high speed reel that he couldn't get along with after someone 'tuned' it to the point where it nested every cast (all brake blocks removed and all but two of the magnets removed). As a result, he won't touch Abu reels with a barge pole and refused to try it even after I'd replaced the brake blocks and magnets. It now casts beautifully, but his perception has been altered by a bad experience and nothing anyone can do will change that now. In fact, this perception extends beyond the manufacturer and his entire attitude towards multipliers in general has gone downhill.

There's nowt queerer than folk...


Just thinking out loud here - none of this is directed at anyone, or at any particular product.

I'll shut up now and get my coat...

[<(Andy2009)>]

My opinion

Speaking on level terms here, I have both the Original 525 Mags and the New Penn 525 Mag2.

The old 525 Mags are brillant, built like tanks and will last a lifetime if taken care of. Only thing I find out them is the mag system can be too easily accidentally knocked onto the fast or slow setting depending on where you have it (mine generally being set on 4 or 5). Other than that they are the best shore fishing reels of there time bar non.

As for the new Penn 525 Mag2, I can only they have improved what was already a great reel. They stepped up the mag system like a knobby nag but the system is built into the reel and doesnt stick out, and with the mag having a clicker system, it cannot be accidentally knocked onto fast or slow, a great idea by Penn. The introduction of a clicker system to the centrifugal break system and drag system was also a good idea. They certainly dont look the same build quality but they are built as strong as ever. The only downside I know of is that the handles they have fitted have a weakness as they have drilled holes though the handle (obviously for show) and a few people I know who have these reels have had the handles physically sheer in half at the weak point where the holes are...
Mind you its not hard to just fit an original Penn handle (the silver one, the best one).

Well theres my opinion, happy to have helped.

[jameswlong1941]

What are these reels like ah? i like the look of em, and they seem to have a good write up at £149.99 and a lot of anglers have em, thinking of getting one

Well Kipper m8 myself i dont rate them anywhere as i have 2 ht7 tornament multipliers and had no problems with them and i have a slosh 30 which is equal to them too but everyone has their own opinions because every new reel there/s always someone who says they are better but myself i keep to my own liking okay m8

[j the kipper]

Re 525mag2

thanks Persues ,well said, what a write up. i decided to get the 525mag2 at the end of the day ,just had dozen hoys wid ,and more than happy ,up to now,but time will tell m8,anyway u only get what u pay for

[Persues]

Best of luck with your new reel - I hope you get years of trouble free fishing out of it

[leeskinner007]

have to say i have the mag2 and cant fault it at all once you clear out the over the top grease which is in them they work great