Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

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MediumHeavy
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Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by MediumHeavy » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:47 am

At some point this spring, I think I'd like to get a new setup and really treat myself. I love using weightless plastics with a baitcaster, so I'm thinking about getting a finesse setup. So, I was wondering what folks thought about the Shimano Aldebaran BFS without upgrades versus either a CU50E or CH50E with an Avail spool and bearing upgrade.

Also, are the Avail honeycomb spools fragile? I'd like to use 16 or 20 lb braid with this setup, if possible.

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by spookybaits » Mon Feb 10, 2014 12:20 pm

I was in the same boat. I decided to go with the scorpion xt1000, hedgehog ald0949 spool & hedgehog air or air bfs bearings. But that's for longer distance casting 1/8oz-1/4oz balsa cranks.
For close-medium range soft plastics like you mentioned, I'd probably go with the honeycomb spool & air bfs bearings. There will definitely be a learning curve with that spool though, that suckers light. Lightest spool available if I'm not mistaken.

Either way, I'd go with scorp1000xt/cu50/ch50 + spool & bearings. It's more versatile & you can always use it for something else other than finesse by swapping spools. (Though you might be able to buy a deep spool for the alde bfs & do the same thing, but it's not really made for that).

That was my plan for a shimano finesse reel after about 6 months of contemplating, researching & reading opinions.
(Though I'm now going a different route- steez + SV spool or zonda 68).

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by Hogsticker2 » Mon Feb 10, 2014 4:06 pm

Wait to see if the CH50E drops in price. Next step, source a 32 mm Yumeya magnesium spool. You're set, plus you have an extra spool!

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by USA-RET » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:32 pm

Hogsticker2 wrote:Wait to see if the CH50E drops in price. Next step, source a 32 mm Yumeya magnesium spool. You're set, plus you have an extra spool!
X2

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by VAsmallies » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:44 pm

I have a yumeya spool and os spool bearings in my Curado 51e and that thing is a pitching and skipping beast! I often find myself wishing for faster line pick up, especially when fishing weightless plastics on semi-slack line. For that reason I would go with the 8:1 aldebaran bfs xg. That's my plan come spring

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by MediumHeavy » Tue Feb 11, 2014 4:02 am

Almost forgot about the gear ratio difference. I could always swap gears from a Core, but then that's more money and time. Probably leaning toward the Aldebaran BFS XG. I read the TT review and if anyone who has one can comment on the spool tension being easy to move since it's on the palming side, that would be helpful. Or any other issues, really.

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by 21farms » Tue Feb 11, 2014 4:51 am

i have both. my aldebaran BFS is mostly stock except for the bearings and the handle. my 50E has the yumeya 32mm spool, upgraded bearings, core 7:1 gear set and upgraded handle (i also have a scorpion 1001XT set up the same way). personally, i'd opt for the alde...lighter, faster, more compact, almost the same price after adding a shallow spool to the 50E, and JDM cachet.

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by MediumHeavy » Tue Feb 11, 2014 5:30 am

21farms, is the spool tension knob annoying at all being on the palm side of the Aldebaran?

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by 21farms » Tue Feb 11, 2014 5:49 am

MediumHeavy wrote:21farms, is the spool tension knob annoying at all being on the palm side of the Aldebaran?
nope...in fact, think it's the alde's best feature...it allows the reel to just disappear into your palm and the crossbar in front of the knob protects it while still providing easy adjustments.
Image

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by Bootytrain » Tue Feb 11, 2014 5:58 am

21farms wrote:
MediumHeavy wrote:21farms, is the spool tension knob annoying at all being on the palm side of the Aldebaran?
nope...in fact, think it's the alde's best feature...it allows the reel to just disappear into your palm and the crossbar in front of the knob protects it while still providing easy adjustments.
Image
A perfect illustration of the Corefit design

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by MediumHeavy » Tue Feb 11, 2014 9:02 am

Wow, that's a pretty big compact design. Thanks for posting that. Did you put a longer handle on it?

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by 21farms » Tue Feb 11, 2014 10:34 am

MediumHeavy wrote:Wow, that's a pretty big compact design. Thanks for posting that. Did you put a longer handle on it?
i temporarily mounted a CH50E handle on it. i currently have a 90mm semper-fi swept carbon handle on it. the alde BFS is suh-weet

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by MediumHeavy » Tue Feb 11, 2014 11:32 am

I do prefer the slightly longer 84mm handle with the bigger grips like on the 200 series reels, but I could always swap that out later. Pretty sold on the Aldebaran. Thanks for all the info!

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by fishingandfords » Tue Feb 11, 2014 2:40 pm

I think 21farms has convinced me to pull the trigger. I'm over loaded on reels but I will sell the mint 50mg and store the D7s. Not even sure what rod to use it on but maybe I should use my Mentanium XG with the shallow spool first :doh:

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Re: Aldebaran BFS or Upgraded CH50E?

Post by facelessnewsouth » Wed Feb 12, 2014 5:24 am

fishingandfords wrote:I think 21farms has convinced me to pull the trigger. I'm over loaded on reels but I will sell the mint 50mg and store the D7s. Not even sure what rod to use it on but maybe I should use my Mentanium XG with the shallow spool first :doh:
I like your style as far as reels go fandf, so if you ever start feeling like you have to many and want to be charitable, let me be the first to say I'll take the excess off your hands :lol: !!!

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