Alutecnos Gorilla 12 Review
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i still haven't used my reel, but the freespool is about 14-16 seconds. i have not maxed out the drag but i have had it about 25 lbs and its like butter, smooth as silk. i will give a better report after using the reel. right now it is as my beach house so i can not do any more tests. i spooled it with 80lb suffix braid and cant wait to jig up some tuna
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Realize this is an old post. Can anyone confirm if this reel is quad drag?
The schematic i've seen on Alutecnos site only seems to show a single double drag. (spec 2007)
I'm waiting for mine to arrive hopefully next week.
The 40lbs of drag should be awesome so i'm not hoping for more drag. I'm just curious. More drags would be better for cooling distribution and load balancing.
Cheers
The schematic i've seen on Alutecnos site only seems to show a single double drag. (spec 2007)
I'm waiting for mine to arrive hopefully next week.
The 40lbs of drag should be awesome so i'm not hoping for more drag. I'm just curious. More drags would be better for cooling distribution and load balancing.
Cheers
I recently got a used Gorilla 12 with the Alutecnos t-handle and decided to tear into today. Yes, I got the 14 seconds of freespool empty spool. I degreased the spool bearings which are factory open on one side. As per Alan Tani's latest snake oil, TSI 301, I juiced the bearings and put it back together. First freespool test I got 58 seconds and subsequent trials got 54 seconds +or - 2 seconds pretty consistently. This reel is so smooth that my eyes could hardly focus or actually see the spool spinning for the first 25 seconds. It is like glass. It will be many months till I actually get to use this reel, but when waiting for the computer to log on, I will periodically do more trial tests and see if over time the bearings lose their zip. As for the TSI 301 product, get it off the internet, no one carries it, but I am going to clean and use it on all my reels many which will be used real soon(Quantum PT).
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Wow good work Jimbo,
do you think you could upload a video and post the link. That spool is pretty heavy so it should be able to do some good spin times. I had a go on an Ajiking I've got. The best after a fresh lube is 2min 40secs. I took one vid just under 2 mins. I need to put some lithium grease in their so it stays. PTFE lube works really well but it dries off after time. Free spool drops to about 1 minute after time.
I will have to be brave and open up my Gorilla 12. It's the only one I haven't opened because it's so nice as it is except for the freespool because of heavily greased bearings.
do you think you could upload a video and post the link. That spool is pretty heavy so it should be able to do some good spin times. I had a go on an Ajiking I've got. The best after a fresh lube is 2min 40secs. I took one vid just under 2 mins. I need to put some lithium grease in their so it stays. PTFE lube works really well but it dries off after time. Free spool drops to about 1 minute after time.
I will have to be brave and open up my Gorilla 12. It's the only one I haven't opened because it's so nice as it is except for the freespool because of heavily greased bearings.
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347 Posts
Hi,
I bit the bullet and serviced my reel. I'm getting about 90 seconds of freespool now with a teflon based oil on the spool bearings. I have to say these reels are built very very well. I have a 12C coming next week and I can't wait!!!
It casts like a dream too.
See vid:
G12 freespool
I bit the bullet and serviced my reel. I'm getting about 90 seconds of freespool now with a teflon based oil on the spool bearings. I have to say these reels are built very very well. I have a 12C coming next week and I can't wait!!!
It casts like a dream too.
See vid:
G12 freespool
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347 Posts
Spool bearings are shielded on one side only facing the outside of the spool which makes a lot of sense.
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shielded side:
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WoW!! Have you ever seen a more simplistic reel when taken apart!!and it doesn't have 7 bearings either. That video was great! especially at the end where you barely moved the spool and it just moved and spinned so easily. Yep, that is the same handle I have on mine. Since my post, subsequent freespooling has been 44 seconds but please note the right main bearing still has the factory grease whether or not it affects the time I don't know. Mind you this is still on an empty spool without no line on it yet so I would imagine longer freespool times once it is spooled with line. So far so good, Now to apply a thin layer of Cal's Grease to the carbon fiber drag surface. Thanks for the online video!!
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yes the bit at the end is just to show that the spool is incredibly free.
I'm sure there are better lubes out there that people can use and that the freespool time can probably be doubled or tripled. The fact is that this reel has more than enough freespool for its purpose. The design is magnificent and I hope more people will try this reel.
Thumbs up to Alutecnos!
I'm sure there are better lubes out there that people can use and that the freespool time can probably be doubled or tripled. The fact is that this reel has more than enough freespool for its purpose. The design is magnificent and I hope more people will try this reel.
Thumbs up to Alutecnos!
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347 Posts
I wonder what the max drag is on this reel with a half full and near empty spool? I just saw the everol video of their 4/0 (the canyon special, same size as the Gorilla) with 40lbs max drag (when full) and the guy said max drag at half full is 80lbs, empty is 120 lbs!
Maybe I should load with 200lb braid! Wouldn't have much capacity lol! Shows you need to back off the drag if you don't want the line to break on long runs.
Maybe I should load with 200lb braid! Wouldn't have much capacity lol! Shows you need to back off the drag if you don't want the line to break on long runs.
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