Living up to the
Hype? The Zero Ball Bearing Concept Z from 13 Fishing
(continued)
Casting: If you read my preview of the Concept Z in the beginning of the
year you may remember that the very first thing that I did when I received the
Concept Z from 13 Fishing was the same thing that I do with just about every
reel, I set the brakes and gave the spool a spin, which left me immediately
perplexed.
This reel can cast! Max distance
is a hallmark of the Concept Z
Like just about everyone at ICAST I heard all the
hype about how good of a caster this zero ball bearing equipped Concept Z was,
and yet the reel that I held in my hand exhibited one of the worst freespools
ever! Yet when I spooled up the reel and gave it a cast the results were
impressive, something just didn’t add up.
Inside we find the Japanese Hamai
Cut Gearing
Testing the reel side by side with the Shimano Curado K I found that I could
achieve between 8 and 15 feet of additional casting distance once the reel was
dialed in. This is a significant delta especially when considering that we are
comparing a reel with what are essentially souped up bushings with a proven
caster like the Curado K.
The two CZBs that make the most
difference when casting are the spool and handle cover bearings
The Concept Z’s cast is pretty effortless, which again is a surprise considering
the amount of friction that you would assume from a bushing design, but the
material that 13 Fishing utilizes to build the CZBs is both hard and slick
enough to enable smooth and consistent casts. Consistency in between casts is
also good on this reel, even with weightless lures, but when it comes to
accuracy I found comparably priced offerings from Shimano and Daiwa just as
good, and in some cases better. Yet the more I cast the Concept Z my initial
skepticism of the bushing design conceded to the fact that this reel can really
launch baits across the complete gamut, enabling the reel to be effectively
employed for both power and finesse applications.
A drop of INOX oil on the shaft
and spool contact bearings and the noise on the reel decreased significantly
Over the course of the tests I did notice that our test reel started to exhibit
a noticeable sound with each cast. This particular reel was pretty quiet out of
the box but a month in the sound seemed to get progressively louder, sounding
something in between a whirring and a rasping sound. Similar sounds have been
reported by other owners of the reel and I met up with two other anglers that
purchased reels and observed similar sounds, but my test reel was by far the
loudest. It took me a while to diagnose what was happening including reaching
back out to Matt Baldwin, the head of Product Design at 13 Fishing to confirm my
theory.
Under normal use the CZBs should
be self lubricating but the oil certainly didn't hurt
When I first previewed the Concept Z I disassembled the test reel and in the
process had stripped some of the lubrication from spool contact CZBs as well as
the shaft. I added a drop of INOX oil on the ID of the spool and palm side CZB’s
and the whirring sound decreased significantly. I still hear some of that sound,
which I now feel is somewhat of a signature sound of the reel, and something
anglers are either going to feel indifferent about or annoy them depending on
how sensitive they are to the sound.
Testing after applying a few drops
of oil and the reel casted much quieter and felt just as smooth
13 Fishing has stated that the CZBs are self-lubricating so as long as they are
fished hard the theory is that adding oil to the bearings is unnecessary as the
CZBs will break in over time. Matt explained “the CZB material is super hard so
the self-lubricating properties take a bit of fishing to kick in. Basically the
process is the CZB bearing is slowly filling in the microscopic holes in the
spool shaft to create the smoothest fit for continued performance.”
Mid way through the tests I
started to see some parallels between the Concept Z and my daily driver
As I continued to use the reel I got more and
more used to the distinct sound the reel makes when cast, and much like the
casting attributes are different on the reel so is the sound that that it makes
each and every time it launches a bait. In this respect the reel reminds me of
my Tesla Model S P90D, and while most passengers describe the car as silent I
hear the electric AC induction motors make an audible whine each and every time
I stomp on the accelerator.
The Concept Z pairs best with
rods that have black blanks and don't have contrasting color highlights. The new
Savage Gear Browser rods actually look great with this reel with the matching
orange logos
The final thing that I noticed when testing the casting on the Concept Z is that
the type of line plays a bigger factor on max casting distance on this reel than
other reels that utilize traditional bearings. Much like the reel doesn’t spin
freely by itself on a traditional thumb test, how the line affects the spool
weight has a greater impact on the CZB bushing than traditional ball bearings,
and dialing in the right settings for your personal cast is critical when
changing lines that are significantly different like mono to braid for example.
Like other Concept reels the Z
sits nice and low on most reel seats
Next
Section: Wrapping your head around the design
