This year Shimano Australia is proud to add to the long lineage of the Stradic series of reels, with the new Shimano Stradic FM. Stradic has been a name that most anglers would know and trust for over two decades. A name that is synonymous with affordability, strength, beauty and through its use has been bringing Australian angler closer to nature.
Beauty is only skin deep, but at the heart of the new Shimano Stradic FM series there are four new technologies passed from their top-of-the-range sibling, the Shimano Stella FK series, that make these reels a powerhouse of function and longevity. All housed in the unmistakable aesthetics of Shimano Stradics through the years.
Starting from the top. DURACROSS drag washer technology brings a new level of performance with durability. Traditionally drag washers are made with either felt washers or carbon textile washers. Felt giving a nice, low start up pressure and smooth function but didn’t provide a high amount of drag pressure or last as long through the rigors of high-speed fish and long drawn-out fights. At the other end of the spectrum were carbon textile washers providing huge amounts of drag pressure and were nearly indestructible at the cost of having a very high startup pressure and didn’t always have a smooth function, especially in smaller reels where they weren’t large enough to provide the angle of mechanical leverage need to make them work well. Shimano’s proprietary DURACROSS drag washers are the nexus of the two. Smooth functioning of the drag like a felt washer with the durability of carbon textile achieved by reinforcing the material by weaving in new fibres in an orthogonal direction to convention drag washers.
Moving down the ANTI TWIST FIN was added to the design. You could be forgiven for missing this diminutive addition. The ANTI TWIST FIN works by guiding the line to exactly where it needs to be straight after closing the bail arm on completion of a cast to make sure line lay on the spool starts perfectly, immediately. It also acts to pull any small loops or twists in the line during the retrieve which can happen when taking up slack line. This tiny fin will extend the life of the line on the reel by greatly reducing wind knots and provide better casting as the line is laid on the spool perfectly.
From there we move to the beating heart of the Stradic FM series. In addition to the use of the HAGANE GEAR cold forging process is the addition of INFINITYXROSS where the main gear and pinion gear teeth have been made significantly larger meaning the area of contact between the two is increased, distributing the load over a larger surface area meaning the already legendary durability of the HAGANE GEAR process is bumped up to the next level. The gears in the new Stradic FM series will have super smooth function for the life of the reel.
The final new technology added to the Stradic FM series is INFINITYDRIVE. A system of supporting the main shaft that keeps it tight in position while allowing for smooth and light rotation of the reel. This means that gone are the days of having to choose between lateral movement in the mainshaft giving a “loose” feeling to the reel that would allow for easy spinning or making the clearance of the main shaft through the pinion gear very small that eliminated any movement but could make a reel feel heavier to turn. INFINITYDRIVE will bring the best of both worlds to the new Stradic FM series.
These are just the four new technology editions to the reels which complement the extensive list of technologies used in the past and make the new Stradic FM series of reels push the boundaries of what a mid-range priced reel is capable of and bring the angler as close to a Stella experience at a fraction of the price.
