Pflueger Trion spinning reel discoveries

[The Rooster]

I just stripped and cleaned my Pflueger Trion TRI30x spinning reel and discovered some things. I believe the President model has a metal side plate but the Trion is supposed to just be all graphite. My last one which was a prior model was this way. The newer current model which is what I have now actually had a metal plate.

Also, the reel advertises 7 bearings. I only found 5. My last one had 7 so I knew where to look for the missing two. One should be behind the oscillating gear but the gear is not made to accept one. One more should be on the bail line roller but it's only a nylon bushing.

I'm not sure how I feel about the discovery of less bearings than claimed. On one hand it's just a $40 reel, and it also has stood up to several 3 pound bass so I don't question its fishability. I cleaned it up like new and it feels just like it did when it came out of the package. On the other hand I don't like thinking it's supposed to have 7 and only has 5. I downloaded schematics to see what they refer to as bearings but they don't show more than just the 5. One ball bearing on each side of the drive gear (2), and two more on the pinion gear (up to 4) and then the clutch bearing (total of 5). This surprises me from Pflueger.

[LgMouthGambler]

2 bearings in the knob?

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[SFL BassHunter]

Good point Matt. The knob could have bearings.

Honestly I'll take the aluminum frame or more aluminum than before over the bearings they took out. If they are in non critical places and the reel feels the same as the older model I'm ok with that. The aluminum will help make the reel a little more rigid when fighting a bigger fish.
I personally hate the feel of graphite bending to a fishes will while I fight it.

But that's just my opinion on it. On the other hand if it's advertised as 7 and truly only has 5 then they need to change their marketing.


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[The Rooster]

The handle knob is not removable. But it could have bearings in it just the same. They have left it to anyone's guess.

[Smallie_Stalker]

Is it possible that they changed the reel specs but had a large stock of the boxes for the older 7 bearing models left and just put the new reels in the old boxes?

Still not right, but migjt be a plausible explanation.

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[The Rooster]

No, the reel has the 7 bearing logo printed on it as well. I'm gonna go with that they have two in the handle knob that are inaccessible, at least as far as I can see (the older President model with the wooden knob did as well so it's possible). Otherwise they have been deceiving in their advertising and I don't really think that's the case, or at least I don't want it to be. There's no way it wouldn't be found out when people service their reels so I doubt it was deception.

I'd personally rather that the bearings be in the locations they were before, but it hasn't made any difference that I was aware of before now. I've had the reel for 5 years and never tore it down until now and it's always fished just fine, even very enjoyably. The only wear I even see is on the spool shaft as it passes through the pinion gear and that's not much at all and won't affect the function anytime soon. In the end I need to realize I'm probably overthinking things when it comes to bearings and wear, and it's also just a $40 reel. Still, it's the best value in fishing by far in terms of price vs quality.