Shimano sienna down grade ?

[hornet]

I notice the shimano sienna new model now has less bearings and is slightly more expensive from the earlier model, What's the go ? we get less reel and pay more for it ?
I just bought the older 2500FD to go with my older 4000FD glad I did I get more bearings for less cost..

The new FE series seems a more cheap ass reel than the older FD series.


OLD SERIES

SN1000FD GR bearing
Sienna 1000FD 5.2:1 3+1

SN2500FD
Sienna 2500FD 5.2:1 3+1

SN4000FD
Sienna 4000FD 5.1:1 3+1
```````````````````````````````````````````````````

NEW SERIES

SN1000FE
Sienna 1000FE 5.0:1 1+1

SN2500FE
Sienna 2500FE 5.0:1 1+1

SN4000FE
Sienna 4000FE 5.2:1 1+1

[Lightningx]

That doesn't sound good :down:

[4liters]

Are bearings all that important? Maybe they've made some brushes that do just as good a job.

[DougieK]

The new ones feel ok.

I probably landed 1000 squid/smaller fish on my old 2500 before i upgraded to a stradic. The best value for money.

[hornet]

In my experience bearings are more free running with less resistance / friction, Surface area is greater on bushes.
It's a way to cut down on manufacturing cost. In reality it should be a cheaper reel to buy not dearer with bushes.
But it's all about maximising profit. Put some sales blurb out there about how good this new reel is and bump up the cost.
Even after it's been out a while and the price drops to the old model price, your still not getting the build of the older style reel.
Remove complicated bearings and fit cheaper bushes, as long as it's fairly smooth she'll be right.
More company profit.
That's my take on it.

[Sinsemilla]

In my experience bearings are more free running with less resistance / friction, Surface area is greater on bushes.
It's a way to cut down on manufacturing cost. In reality it should be a cheaper reel to buy not dearer with bushes.
But it's all about maximising profit. Put some sales blurb out there about how good this new reel is and bump up the cost.
Even after it's been out a while and the price drops to the old model price, your still not getting the build of the older style reel.
Remove complicated bearings and fit cheaper bushes, as long as it's fairly smooth she'll be right.
More company profit.
That's my take on it.

The AX model used to have 1 bb. They have probably dropped that model and replaced it with a downgraded sienna. I've pulled both of them apart before and the only difference is the AX had bushes where the handle goes in on both sides instead of bb's like the sienna.

they both had bb on the main shaft. so im thinking thats how it would probably be. Just BB on the main spool shaft and bushes either side of the reel.

in my opinion it would probably be better with bushes because the bearings weren't good quality anyway and would seize up if you didn't clean them properly after getting a lot of salt water on the reel. With the bushes the reel will probably last longer.

[4liters]

in my opinion it would probably be better with bushes because the bearings weren't good quality anyway and would seize up if you didn't clean them properly after getting a lot of salt water on the reel. With the bushes the reel will probably last longer.

This is my suspicion, although that is largely based on the number of times Cheaterparts has mentioned how reliable his old, bearing-less Penn reel are rather than any kind of first hand experience.

[mingle]

The Siennas, and quite a few other smaller models (the AX & Alivio to name just a few) all use the same bodies. The handles, rotors and spools all seem to be interchangeable. Probably just the Shimano marketing department keeping itself busy pulling the wool over the eyes of the punters.

I specifically went to for the Sienna FD over the 'newer' FE, as the bearings did seem to make a difference to the feel of the reel. I compared them side-by-side.

Mike.

[cobby]

You can even put a Stella spool on your siennas Mike.

It's all model placement. No point having a reel with 3 bb at $50 and another with 5 at only $70 with others scattered in the middle. The bushes are perfectly fine, especially for reels used off the surf or other harsh environments.

[mingle]

Shimano aren't silly they know how to keep theior product lines ticking over.

I have an Alivio 6000FA that I bought many (7+?) years ago. When I got my Sienna 2500FD I was amazed to see that (apart from the size difference) they were almost identical. Not knocking the reels at all - both are very well-made and feel great.

I actually replaced the handle bushed in the 6000FA with sealed bearings (about 8 bucks from ebay), for no other reason than curiousity. Made the reel spin a bit more freely, but you're right - bushes are zero-maintenace and probably last just as long.

Cheers,

Mike.