Three's company...KTF/ZPI/Hedgehog-Avail

[Love2Grabbass]

ok. what is the comparison result then after a few years?

Its actually only been a few months and I should be hitting the lakes again as early as March... Until then I havent made a single cast with these yet. I do have a postage scale on the way so I should at least be able compare weight.

Good point. Sorry

I took the ZPI and KTF reels out for a prelim showdown and man these 2 reels couldn't behave any more different from each other! I didn't tweak them very much, kept them at right about the middle of each of their respective range and got similar distance from both... So the end point was basically the same but how they got to that point is where they differ drastically. I was using 6lb sniper and a 1/8 oz drop shot weight for both.

The ZPI is by far the more well behaved reel, very little if any user input (thumbing) and the delivery was very linear/smooth.

The KTF was the wild child, it wanted to scream but also required attention on my part or it would get ahead of itself. The KTF seemed like it was capable of greater overall distance/performance based on its desire to "let its hair down" but needs more dialing in first.

To sum them up in one word; the ZPI Alde is sophisticated while the KTF Alde is obnoxious! Both are impressive but in two completely different ways. More to come...

[Mcyl]

Hey Grabass. I can pitch in on the avails.
This is based on the Ald0929. On standard Shimano VBS...it's very tame...IMO too tame.
On the 4P it's still very controllable but needs a little attention at the end if the cast.
With the avail screwy magnet... You need to mod the side plate so it fall out completely but...
The variations is incredible. I've used N-S on two opposite ends or sometimes N-S-N then S-N-S on the other side.
The screw dial set to just off touching and slowly dial back.
Like the ZPI there's almost too many variations!

In terms of versatility the 4p brakes IMO is the best and requires least mods.

It's very sad to see the 0929 and the 0928R (6g) now no longer for sale.

[Bootytrain]

ZPI is making a tuned 13 Metanium :-)

[Love2Grabbass]

Hey Grabass. I can pitch in on the avails.
This is based on the Ald0929. On standard Shimano VBS...it's very tame...IMO too tame.
On the 4P it's still very controllable but needs a little attention at the end if the cast.
With the avail screwy magnet... You need to mod the side plate so it fall out completely but...
The variations is incredible. I've used N-S on two opposite ends or sometimes N-S-N then S-N-S on the other side.
The screw dial set to just off touching and slowly dial back.
Like the ZPI there's almost too many variations!

In terms of versatility the 4p brakes IMO is the best and requires least mods.

It's very sad to see the 0929 and the 0928R (6g) now no longer for sale.

Thanks for the input, I will be playing around with the Avail Alde this weekend hopefully and trying to see how far I can go with the KTF... Also will have my postage scale this week so I will be able to post weights.

Bootytrain, I'm also interested to see what KTF does with the Met if they do anything with it...

[Bootytrain]

Oh also for the inshore guys yumeya came out with an aluminum BFS spool for the 50 platforms :-)

[flyfishy]

ok. what is the comparison result then after a few years?

Its actually only been a few months and I should be hitting the lakes again as early as March... Until then I havent made a single cast with these yet. I do have a postage scale on the way so I should at least be able compare weight.

Good point. Sorry

I took the ZPI and KTF reels out for a prelim showdown and man these 2 reels couldn't behave any more different from each other! I didn't tweak them very much, kept them at right about the middle of each of their respective range and got similar distance from both... So the end point was basically the same but how they got to that point is where they differ drastically. I was using 6lb sniper and a 1/8 oz drop shot weight for both.

The ZPI is by far the more well behaved reel, very little if any user input (thumbing) and the delivery was very linear/smooth.

The KTF was the wild child, it wanted to scream but also required attention on my part or it would get ahead of itself. The KTF seemed like it was capable of greater overall distance/performance based on its desire to "let its hair down" but needs more dialing in first.

To sum them up in one word; the ZPI Alde is sophisticated while the KTF Alde is obnoxious! Both are impressive but in two completely different ways. More to come...

Does the KTF variant have that slight squeaky sound coming from the brake blocks?
My aldebaran is running on the stock spool and that sound annoys me as it emits from time to time when i use the brakes on windy days out on the water.
Am thinking of swapping the spool out for a KTF as to my knowledge, the KTF spools are using a different kind of brake blocks altogether from the original shimano's

[haoz]

Squeaky sound could be very hard to solve. I had the same problem once.

I thought it was my brake pads too, and I break down reel for total cleaning twice. Turns out it's my bearing the was busted thus causing the noise.

One way to find out is to lightly oil your brakes. Hopefully no more noise.

[Mcyl]

Squeaky sound could be very hard to solve. I had the same problem once.

I thought it was my brake pads too, and I break down reel for total cleaning twice. Turns out it's my bearing the was busted thus causing the noise.

One way to find out is to lightly oil your brakes. Hopefully no more noise.

You can polish the brake drum with jeweler's rouge very lightly.
I haven't found a reliable lubricant for the brakes yet do I left them dry.

[Thor]

One way to let the Aldebaran/Avail show itself is to take the magnets out.

It will pitch and cast the lightest baits with 4 pound line all day.

[Love2Grabbass]

Flyfishy I have zero squeaky sounds coming from the brake blocks...At least for now but we'll see once I get more time with it.

One way to let the Aldebaran/Avail show itself is to take the magnets out.

It will pitch and cast the lightest baits with 4 pound line all day.

I wonder if the same would work with the ZPI magnets? I would try it with the Avail setup but I don't have the magbrake on it, I transferred the standard Shimano brake hub to it.

[Mcyl]

One way to let the Aldebaran/Avail show itself is to take the magnets out.

It will pitch and cast the lightest baits with 4 pound line all day.

That...takes a quite a bit of skill...I thumb it so much when I do that it doubt I get more distance.
However...my casting on spin gear is getting better!

[Thor]

Come on. There is a 12 year old kid who fishes with me for tarpon and he hasn't had a backlash in months. He is very good. You should see him with a fly rod.

[flyfishy]

My aldebaran BFS XG new out of the box is squeaky when i turn the brakes on. Switched between the red and white brake blocks and they emit the same annoying squeaky sound.
Dont wish to oil the brake blocks as it alters the braking effect altogether unless i am left with no other option.

I jus sanded the brake blocks with ultra fine grade sand paper, will see how it goes.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Mcyl]

Come on. There is a 12 year old kid who fishes with me for tarpon and he hasn't had a backlash in months. He is very good. You should see him with a fly rod.

I tend to cast fine...any lure, any wind, pretty much any setting until I'm not catching. Then I get silly when I'm casting for the hell of casting.

I think I've gotten worse, was a lot more careful when I had to buy line.

[mikezho]

Is your avail the honeycomb version?
I just got my avail honey comb yesterday. It looks awesome and incredibly light.
I spooled 4lb trilene xl on it.

Hey Grabass. I can pitch in on the avails.
This is based on the Ald0929. On standard Shimano VBS...it's very tame...IMO too tame.
On the 4P it's still very controllable but needs a little attention at the end if the cast.
With the avail screwy magnet... You need to mod the side plate so it fall out completely but...
The variations is incredible. I've used N-S on two opposite ends or sometimes N-S-N then S-N-S on the other side.
The screw dial set to just off touching and slowly dial back.
Like the ZPI there's almost too many variations!

In terms of versatility the 4p brakes IMO is the best and requires least mods.

It's very sad to see the 0929 and the 0928R (6g) now no longer for sale.