Northwest Fishing Reports

shimano chronarch e series versus abu garcia revo stx 3rd gen? and why?

Chronarch E, hands down. Why? First of all, better drag. Second, I'm still 100% sold on the good old fashioned shimano variable braking system. I have never been a fan of the magnetic braking system on the Abus. In all fairness though, the STX has both magnetic and centrifugal brakes, which is just excessive and stupid. Third and perhaps most importantly, Shimano's customer service is awesome.

Before you buy though, try and check out one of the new curados, I hear they are awesome but haven't had a chance to get my hands on one yet.

im a shimano man myself, i own a chronarch and love it, but i have the feeling that im gonna splurge myself a reel soon, and i wanted to maybe, just maybe try something new, but i might try that new curado, looks promising, but i dont like to buy new models early on, i like to read reviews first so i know its a good purchase lol

After a lot of research I decided to go with the STX last year after comparing the Shimano Chonarch, Curado, and Diawa Lexa models. The STX is great….when it works. I was left disappointed though. On my first one the thumb bar stuck down leaving the spool in freespin shortly after I got it. Cabela's exchanged it for a new one. The second lasted almost a whole season before the same thing happened. Abu had me send it back claiming a known defective part. It seems to be working now (at least for the two weeks I got to use it at the end of the season), but in the end it cost me a few frustrating fishing trips, $15 in lost gear and and additional $15 in shipping to get it fixed under warranty. All said and done I was left wishing I'd gone with the Chonarch. I also notice other people posting the same problem with more recently purchased Revos so think that Abu hasn't "fixed" the issue completely yet.
Additionally, when I sent my reel back, the spool tension knob was acting up, so I asked the techs to look at it while it was there. I'm 100% certain that they didn't touch it as during a previous lube job I had accidentally removed the click spring form the tensioning knob and didn't notice it before I sent it in. The knob issue was never addressed. Fortunately I noticed my mistake after the fact and was able to fix the problem (admittedly self-caused problem) myself. I was left feeling like the techs didn't do their job thoroughly though. A more minor complaint was that I'm very careful with my gear, both when using and when I tear it down to clean/lube it. I noticed that when I got my reel back from Abu the aluminum set screw that secures the handle nut key was badly marred a result of using too small of a screwdriver in the screw slot. Sloppy work in my opinion. Therefore, I will not be buying another "new" Abu. I do have a C4 that I like, which needs regular maintenance as do most reels, but when clean and lubed it works very well.
FWIW

Springer Jerry wrote:

rcthepirate wrote:Chronarch E, hands down. Why? First of all, better drag. Second, I'm still 100% sold on the good old fashioned shimano variable braking system. I have never been a fan of the magnetic braking system on the Abus. In all fairness though, the STX has both magnetic and centrifugal brakes, which is just excessive and stupid. Third and perhaps most importantly, Shimano's customer service is awesome.

Before you buy though, try and check out one of the new curados, I hear they are awesome but haven't had a chance to get my hands on one yet.

Why are magnetic and centrifugal brakes stupid? Tell us something we don't know about them. The STX drag pressure is almost double of the Chronarch so tell us how it's a better drag? I go Abu Garcia over Shimano 8 out of 7 days in the week.

I've just found that straight out of the box the Chronach (and just about every Shimano reel for that matter) has a much smoother drag. Every single Abu I've owned has had a jerky drag that gets worse the longer I've owned it, and I've owned several low profile and round Abu Garcia baitcasters. When I've messed around with the STX, I've found it to be no exception. As far as the drag pressure is concerned, I say good for Abu. I've landed a lot of big fish with a 10 or 11 lb. drag and never had a problem putting the brakes on them. Furthermore, I tend to take any rating like that with a grain of salt, considering there is no industry standard regarding how they come up with it, and some manufacturers tend to embellish numbers and others are more conservative and tend to underrate their gear.

And as for the magnetic/centrifugal brake combo, I just think it's excessive. Admittedly, I've never fished a reel that has both, but the Abu's I've fished that have just the magnetic casting brake have been totally inferior to the Shimano variable (centrifugal) braking system. I think its excessive and gimmicky to try and put both a magnetic and centrifugal braking system in a reel as well as a spool tension knob for cast control, when one or the other seems to work perfectly when executed properly.

And as for customer service, this is exactly what I was talking about:

BentRod wrote: Additionally, when I sent my reel back, the spool tension knob was acting up, so I asked the techs to look at it while it was there. I'm 100% certain that they didn't touch it as during a previous lube job I had accidentally removed the click spring form the tensioning knob and didn't notice it before I sent it in. The knob issue was never addressed. Fortunately I noticed my mistake after the fact and was able to fix the problem (admittedly self-caused problem) myself. I was left feeling like the techs didn't do their job thoroughly though. A more minor complaint was that I'm very careful with my gear, both when using and when I tear it down to clean/lube it. I noticed that when I got my reel back from Abu the aluminum set screw that secures the handle nut key was badly marred a result of using too small of a screwdriver in the screw slot. Sloppy work in my opinion. Therefore, I will not be buying another "new" Abu. I do have a C4 that I like, which needs regular maintenance as do most reels, but when clean and lubed it works very well.
FWIW

If you send your reel to Shimano, they are going to strip it down, clean, lube, fix, and make any upgrades to the reel that have come out since you bought it. When they still did curado B's a couple of years ago I sent one in that was basically falling apart and got a reel back that was 90% of brand new. They do a really thorough job.

I've used both, and when I fish a 12 hour + day, the shimano just feels better. They are both very good reels though. I like the Shimano for targeting structure a bit better, and the Garcia for deep jigging/walleye. Shimano has a slightly smoother action, but the garcia seems to have more muscle. I like my Pflueger even better though, for all around (not to expand this, I hope). It really depends on what style you are fishing, in my humble opinion.

i love my c4 reel its great but i have read numerous reviews about the stx's thumbbar problem so im sketchy on them, and whatever reel i buy MUST have centrifugal brakes, i dont like magnetics alone, it doesnt fit my casting style, i like to whip my casts out there, and with my shimanos i only use one brake pin and its perfect for me, but with mags i feel like i need to "lob" my casts. and the stx has 22lb of drag pressure i think, while the chronarch has 15, i dont think ill ever need to crank down that much pressure on a fish, taking in account line and rod rating, if i do need that much pressure, ill just use a heavier setup lol. and good point with the customer service, i ordered a spare spool for my chronarch last year and fed ex must have smushed the box badly because the spool shaft was bent i told shimano about it and a few days later i received a brand new spool with a crap ton of extra brake pins as sort of a "gift" haha

oh i want a premiere also!!!! they actually seem good, well they better be at 300 bucks haha but i was in the 200 dollar range thats why i was thinkin of the stx or chronarch, but if i ever see a deal on the premiere i might have to grab it lol, i havent seen or heard any bad reviews on it, but idk if i want a 3rd gen or 2nd gen premiere,

BentRod wrote:After a lot of research I decided to go with the STX last year after comparing the Shimano Chonarch, Curado, and Diawa Lexa models. The STX is great….when it works. I was left disappointed though. On my first one the thumb bar stuck down leaving the spool in freespin shortly after I got it. Cabela's exchanged it for a new one. The second lasted almost a whole season before the same thing happened. Abu had me send it back claiming a known defective part. It seems to be working now (at least for the two weeks I got to use it at the end of the season), but in the end it cost me a few frustrating fishing trips, $15 in lost gear and and additional $15 in shipping to get it fixed under warranty. All said and done I was left wishing I'd gone with the Chonarch. I also notice other people posting the same problem with more recently purchased Revos so think that Abu hasn't "fixed" the issue completely yet.
Additionally, when I sent my reel back, the spool tension knob was acting up, so I asked the techs to look at it while it was there. I'm 100% certain that they didn't touch it as during a previous lube job I had accidentally removed the click spring form the tensioning knob and didn't notice it before I sent it in. The knob issue was never addressed. Fortunately I noticed my mistake after the fact and was able to fix the problem (admittedly self-caused problem) myself. I was left feeling like the techs didn't do their job thoroughly though. A more minor complaint was that I'm very careful with my gear, both when using and when I tear it down to clean/lube it. I noticed that when I got my reel back from Abu the aluminum set screw that secures the handle nut key was badly marred a result of using too small of a screwdriver in the screw slot. Sloppy work in my opinion. Therefore, I will not be buying another "new" Abu. I do have a C4 that I like, which needs regular maintenance as do most reels, but when clean and lubed it works very well.
FWIW

Bought brand new Revo two years ago and had nothing but problems. I took pictures of the line spooling onto the reel unevenly and sent it to Abu; they identified the problem and wanted me to pay to send it back. The reel was BRAND new at that point. They sent an ups call tag after I told them that I would go to the BBB because the reel was new and they admitted selling it with a defect. The reel worked good for few trips then it started to make a grinding sensation when I reeled in with any tension. The reel had minimal use at this point for a higher end reel. The finish was also coming off. I paid to send it back and they replaced it with what I believe a reconditioned reel that had a better finish. It has worked fairly well since with the exception of the centrifugal brake sometimes sticks and result is a bird’s nest….

Haven't had a Revo, but a fishing buddy had a similar experience to strider's. He bought 2, and one was great and the other a lemon.

ive decided that my next reel will be the new curado they have out, its feels sweet!!

Good choice with the new curado. I personally have the chronarch and the new curado as well. Both fish amazingly and feel great in my hands. I put all the abu's in my hands and i always came back to the new curado. Also, for the price i definately liked the curado better. I have only taken it out twice but both times i enjoyed it. The chronarch is a bit more price wise but hands down i would take the chronarch over the curado. I have had my chronarch for about a year or so and i love it. Super easy to clean and maintain, no need to send it in to shimano to get it cleaned, i hate to wait. But either way you go curado or chronarch both are good reels.

Im a shimano man. Have buddies that have owned revos, not sure the model, but always seem to be fishing with a backup while their revo is "in the shop". I also agree with the others who have said they prefer a centrifugal brake. And ive never needed 22 pounds of drag on anything im using a compact reel for. I do own an old ambassador for heavy work and that thing is bomb proof.

right on spoonman, 22 is overkill id need to be fishing like 80lb braid if i wanted a drag that tight haha, and a freakin halibut rod haha! hey Sthao92 do you like your chronarch better than your new curado? i want to try it since its got a whole new concept and new features but if theyre really not that great i might just buy another chronarch or a bunch of spare spools for my current chronarch haha

Honestly I didn't get to fish it very much because water conditions have been muddy and i have my chronarch set up with my bobber and the curado with a spoon. so i can't really tell you which one i like better yet. I have used my chronarch with mono line and casting spoons and i want to say the chronarch does better with casting. Also it seems like the chronarch spool spins a little more freely than the curado. Don't get me wrong though I still like the reel, just haven't had it long enough to really test it out.

the problem with brand new products haha, i always wait for other peoples reviews so i can see whether or not to buy it haha, saved me from buying the new stx with its thumbar problems lol

Im enjoying my Lexa 100, fished it only this last season and its handled all the pinks and silvers from the puke to the kings and chum from the skok without a hitch. I do feel the drag is a little weak but I normally keep my finger over the spool and had no problems and enjoyed assisting the drag with my thumb like I normally do anyways. Plus I got it on sale for $100 when my other options were $160+