Review: Shimano Rarenium CI4 and Stradic CI4

Ever since Shimano launched their CI4 edition reels in the last year, there has been alot of talk about them. About how light they are, how the CI4 material is impervious to rust and corrosion, and how CI4 is stronger than the standard graphite and alloys that come on regular reels. All this chatter got my interest peaked, so over the last month or so, I managed to get my hands on Shimano's 2 main CI4 based reels. and have now tested both of them on at least 5 trips each.

First off, lets talk a little about CI4. According to Shimano, CI4 is a special type of carbon fiber material that is supposed to be "lighter than magnesium yet stronger than steel", and naturally, this tech was borrowed from their cycling division. Also being a non metallic material, it does not rust and does not corrode, which in my opinion is a HUGE plus, especially for salt water use. But do all of these claims ring true? We'll see.

So on to the Stradic and Rarenium CI4s. First, let's take a look at them.

They sure look nice don't they? =). Well, both these reels are basically identical, and feature identical technologies, with the exception of color and also that the rarenium comes default with a spare spool. Key technologies such as Aerowrap 2, power roller, Paladin Durability Enhancement, ARC spool and Propulsion Line Management are present in both reels. The prices clock in at ~$265 for the stradic and ~$330 for the rarenium.

Both featured reels are in the 2500 size, and have spool capacities of: lbs/yds, 6/200, 8/140, 10/120. Ironically, the printed drag capabilities are different for both reels, the rarenium has a max drag of 5kg, whereas the stradic is supposed to be able to put out a whopping 8kgs of max drag. I had my suspicions about this, and will confirm this later in the post.

So do these reels live up to the hype? Well, I've tested them and here's what I found:

Cranking Smoothness:

Out of the box, 8.5/10, very smooth, very silent. After 5 trips, about 6.5/10, noticeably less smooth when cranking and the anti reverse has a slight backplay, even after maintenance.

Drag Power:

The print was wrong, both reels max out at similar drags: Stradic @ 4.5kg and Rarenium at 4.6kg. Drags were measured using an electronic scale, drag knobs turned til locked and all processes were identical.

Drag Smoothness:

Out of the box, 9/10, extremely smooth. After 5 trips, the drag retains its full smoothness on both reels.

Line Lay:

The line lay of the aerowrap 2 technology is pretty damn good. Line is laid very evenly and is beautifully packed onto the spool. Under the load of a fight, only a very slight dig-in was experienced. Overall rating, 8.5/10.

Casting:


Casting on these reels is flawless. The line flies off the spool readily and I have not had any mishaps yet. 10/10.

Material Review:

CI4 is as light as they claim it is. It was a delight handling such lightweight reels, tho the material does look and feel slightly plastic. However, and this is the game killer for me, the frame is no where "as strong as steel". It is no where as solid as metals like aluminium and magnesium, it handles more like graphite. What I mean by this is the wobbling. Under the load of a fish dragging out line, you can clearly see the reels banking to one side to accommodate the load. And when cranking under minimal load, the reel noticeably wobbles from left to right. This to me is completely unacceptable. Any good reel is defined by how rigid and solid the frame is, and weight aside, the most basic requirement of a decent reel is that it must be secure and sit firmly in place when cranking and when under load. The lack of solidness does not help the cranking power either. Because the reel body wobbles/banks under load, it offers terrible cranking power, and most of the cranking is only possible under minimal load.

So in conclusion:

Pro's:

Very light
Looks great
Good line lay
Good casting

Con's:

Does not retain the out of box smoothness
Frame is not very solid, wobbles under load
No cranking power

Rating: 6/10, it looks like I will be selling the reels off as I prefer the performance of my ultegra, stradic fi and nasci. The lightweight factor is greater overshadowed by the lack in solidness.