speedmaster4 or torium

[reggy]

Just wondering how many of you have a Shimano Speedmaster overhead and what you think of it.
Also, how do you think it rates compared to the Toriums.
cheers, Reggy

[TimiBoy]

I have no experience with the Reefmaster, but my Torium 30 has pulled up an 8 foot shark and heaps of Kingies and Ambos, and after a bit of work it pulls 16kg of drag.

I love it, worth the money!

Cheers,

Tim

[reggy]

yes Tim, I like my Torium also. The Speedmaster is a very similar reel to the Torium with 6;1 gear ratio and a graphite frame. It has been around for a couple of decades now and is still in Shimano`s catalogue. Best part is, it is about two thirds the price of the Torium.

[samson]

Don't know your level of fishing and how frequent but as far as the torium is concerned they don't handle any amount of saltwater intrusion to use there fine but they seize and break down reguly and cost a lot more in the long run, i just gave away a 30 with a 20 soon to follow as the service fee's are killing me.

[BARRAkid]

go a saltist 40h is my fav

[Horse]

Don't know your level of fishing and how frequent but as far as the torium is concerned they don't handle any amount of saltwater intrusion to use there fine but they seize and break down reguly and cost a lot more in the long run, i just gave away a 30 with a 20 soon to follow as the service fee's are killing me.

Mate, If you are giving away an old Torium 20 the feel free to throw it this way;D . I am happy with my 16 but its a bit short on line for the deeper stuff. My reels certainly don't get used like yours would be.

The Toriums are smoother and pull much more drag than a Speedmaster but would not cast as well

[bigboss]

yeh I have owned one kept having problems:dog stopper and anti reverse bearing kaking it.6 of my friends have owned them and will never own one again same problems. If you keep it to 40lb they should be right. better option daiwa saltist 50h much better internals.Ask your local tackle store which reel they have had to repair more of.

[samson]

Horse the 20's going when it seizes next, i do have a trinadad 30 in peices needing repaires that total $300 feel free to take that one.

[billfisher]

The Torium is much better than the old Speedmaster. Better drag, gears and all round construction. It is actually very similar to the more expensive Trinidad (Ihave a couple of those too). I don't think the Speedmaster is a better casting reel - I had one once and it was very backlash prone (unlike my Torium 20). As to repairs I have never had a problem with any of these reels and remember there is a 10 year warranty.

The anti reverse can fail but this is only likely with the use of braided lines and very heavy drag setting (and probably a sticky drag). However you can upgrade the anti reverse for $5 by getting the anti reverse pawl and spring from the DC Trinidad model.

[mikeyh]

HI there,
I have never owned a Torium but have had Speedmaster for many years. Havent been fishing so much in last few years due to young family but have always had a good run with the TSM IV...I have found it to be a good casting reel, excellent in saltwater with no corrosion issues, very light (graphite frame)...and good value for what they cost. I am sure many of the new reels have better drags, gears etc however I have hooked large jews and also an epic battle on 10kg line for 3.5 hours with a massive (nearly 4m) shovel nose shark of the rocks at Hat Head and the reel performed brilliantly.

Interesting the comments about casting the various reels - some people say reels like Torium are superb yet one of the guys at Jones Tackle (was down in Bris for work) told me that (for casting) they werent a patch on the TSM IV...I asked him directly whether any of the Toriums and Trinidads were casting reels and he said no...except for the DC Trinidads.

me, I am confused as ever :-/ because I was looking for an upgrade to my TSM IV and was thinking about an Accurate/Avet but the guy categorically said they were boat reels only...ok for a lob but not a cast......

cheers. Mike

[reggy]

The Speedmaster TSM and the TLD Star 20/40 both have better gears(stainless steel) than the Torium or Trinidad(brass)

They also have a better anti-reverse system.
Sadly, the 20/40 has been dropped from the catalogue.

[billfisher]

HI there,
I have never owned a Torium but have had Speedmaster for many years. Havent been fishing so much in last few years due to young family but have always had a good run with the TSM IV...I have found it to be a good casting reel, excellent in saltwater with no corrosion issues, very light (graphite frame)...and good value for what they cost. I am sure many of the new reels have better drags, gears etc however I have hooked large jews and also an epic battle on 10kg line for 3.5 hours with a massive (nearly 4m) shovel nose shark of the rocks at Hat Head and the reel performed brilliantly.

Interesting the comments about casting the various reels - some people say reels like Torium are superb yet one of the guys at Jones Tackle (was down in Bris for work) told me that (for casting) they werent a patch on the TSM IV...I asked him directly whether any of the Toriums and Trinidads were casting reels and he said no...except for the DC Trinidads.

me, I am confused as ever :-/ because I was looking for an upgrade to my TSM IV and was thinking about an Accurate/Avet but the guy categorically said they were boat reels only...ok for a lob but not a cast......

cheers. Mike

Sounds like the guy at the tackle store doesn't know much about these reels. For a start the DC Trinidad is very similar to the standard Trinidad and the Torium. The main difference is that the the DC has an electronic backlash control and the standard Trinidad has centrifugal anti-backlash and the Torium (in the larger sizes), has none. The addition of the DC system is not going to turn an non-casting reel into a casting reel! I have used my Trinidad 16 and Torium 20 for casting and found them to be very smooth and backlash free and produced good distance with a reasonable sized lure. You do seem to need a bit a casting weight with these reels - I suspect because their spools are a bit on the heavy side (built for strength).

I have also had a couple of Speedmasters in the past. I have found them a bit difficult to cast with. I would tend to get a few good casts in then all of a sudden get a fair sized birds nest. A few other people I know have made similar observations. With my Torium and Trinidad (and other reels such as ABU's), I haven't had this sort of problem.

[alantani]

speedmaster - http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=6.0

versus
[/URL]
torium/trinidad http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=45.0 (http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=509.0) with a dog upgrade [URL]http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=509.0