CDM? Reel Review.

[Pferox]

They have USDM reels, JDM reels, and now I am going to start using CDM reels, or maybe it should be called EDM (Ebay domestic market).     This reel started out as a little tongue in cheek purchase since I can no way afford a real JDM reel, but this one had that funny writing on it so I didn't feel left out in the foreign market world.    I bought small and cheap just in case it ended up being one to put on the wall as a decoration instead of an actual working reel.  I should note one of the final purchasing decisions on the reel was the fact that it was listed as a fresh / saltwater reel.

I frequent one or two Ebay shops for not readily, locally available gear, which I use for speciality rigging mostly, and this line of reels kept staring me in the face for a few weeks every time I visited one shop.  He has a very good reputation of having inexpensive items from China that actually work well, so I decided to get a 2000 series reel with a buy it now for $20 and free shipping.

When it arrived, I opened the shipping box and found the reel well packed.  Inspection of the reel's box found not much information, since most of it was written in Chinese, and the English translations were way off of the mark.  I was able to find a brand name of DIAO DE LAI on the box, and model name of CC2000 on the reel.  The paperwork in the box was a black plastic coated index card size double side printed "manual" written in Chinese.  It also came with a reel bag and an ultralight spoon to test with I guess.  I BLINGED the reel and got nothing on it, although there were a few listings of other models made by DIAO and most of them that I could understand were more or less positive.



Interestingly, the important information on the reel is written in English, Gear Ratio is 5.2:1, and max line rating is 120 yards of 10lb test.  Heck, that's all the information I need to know.  Coloring is nice and even, the reel feels nice for a cheap reel, I don't know what the max drag is and didn't measure it, but it does take a lot to turn the reel when it is maxed out. There is some gear play, but nothing like I expected it to be.  Anti-reverse works well, and the 11 ball bearings make it feel pretty smooth.

I have fished it for a few trips now, and am pleasantly amazed.  It is extremely light, yet quite strong, there is no noticeable flex when reeling in saltwater panfish like croakers, whiting, and foot to foot and a half long hardheads.  I spooled 8lb CXX on it and it handles that line well, there is no noticeable line twist appearing yet, which I would it expect it to be a twisting fool for this price.

Right now, time will tell, as the Bayou's cycle continues, and that 8lb line gets used up, it will sport some 20lb braid, and maybe hook on to some of the larger species that show up, THAT will be the real test.

[Lee Smith]

Wow, I'm surprised 

when I seen a post you was purchasing I was thinking, dang he done got old and senile 

Well, ya are old, but at least we've found out your not senile, , , yet   

Glad it worked out, it will be interesting to see how it holds up!

[Pferox]

Thanks, I'm thinking that China is going the way Japan did not long ago.  I remember Japanese stuff was cheap junk, now most of the Japanese products are either of better quality, or they succeeded in changing what we think a quality product is.

I feel China is going to have to step up and compete with some of the better products cheaply because places like Malaysia and India are going to corner the cheap cheap market very soon.

[Dark3]

It looks pretty well built especially for the price. Congrats

[Pferox]

Thanks Dark.

Ya know, I was very impressed.  I went in with that "What am I thinking" attitude here.  What really impressed me was the drag, I have a couple of other "Walmart" brands of smaller reels that come no where near to the smoothness of this drag, from such a small reel.

I have been comparing most of my smaller reels to the Penn Fierce, or the Penn Pursuit II, both of which have good nice drags, but are much more expensive than this one.

The big concern I have is that people will see this and get one and it will be a dog, because QC and manufacturing might be inconsistent.

[SFL BassHunter]

Thanks Dark.

Ya know, I was very impressed.  I went in with that "What am I thinking" attitude here.  What really impressed me was the drag, I have a couple of other "Walmart" brands of smaller reels that come no where near to the smoothness of this drag, from such a small reel.

I have been comparing most of my smaller reels to the Penn Fierce, or the Penn Pursuit II, both of which have good nice drags, but are much more expensive than this one.

The big concern I have is that people will see this and get one and it will be a dog, because QC and manufacturing might be inconsistent.

Lets all buy one and see if the qc is bad lol. Jk it is a really nice looking reel. Hope it works out for you. Im always happy when cheap stuff works just as well as expensive stuff.

[Pferox]

Lets all buy one and see if the qc is bad lol. Jk it is a really nice looking reel. Hope it works out for you. Im always happy when cheap stuff works just as well as expensive stuff.

Thanks Rick, but to be honest if somebody put one of those and a Pursuit down on the table and said pick one, I would still take the Pursuit. 

[SFL BassHunter]

Thanks Rick, but to be honest if somebody put one of those and a Pursuit down on the table and said pick one, I would still take the Pursuit.

But what if you had to pay for the one you picked?

[Pferox]

But what if you had to pay for the one you picked?

OH, THAT's a different story. 

[SFL BassHunter]

But what if you had to pay for the one you picked?

That is how i know when something cheap is worth it for me. If the 70 dollar reel is just slightly better than the 20 dollar reel then i cant justify the 70 dollars.

[Pferox]

Yea no kidding.

I had that dilemma when I broke down and bought a couple SpinfisherVs.  I was very happy with those Pursuits, but bit the bullet anyways, and for any surf application, I believe the Spinfishers are worth the money.  For pier and boat, I probably would only go with Battles now, they are the first in the line with the HT100 drags, and man those drags are IMPRESSIVE.

I like the Fierce for the price, but I can pretty much get the same reel in a Pursuit, that is lighter because it is some kind of composite and a little less expensive.

Shimanos are good reels also, I just don't buy them for some reason.  The one that also impressed me is the Okuma reel I picked up.  They have come a long way since the last time I had one of their inexpensive reels.