Boca Bearings

[hooked]

Got a couple of them Bocas for one casting reel over few months back and finally time permits for a review. Wanted to meddle with a untested product and compare with some of the existing ones.

A pair of these bearings cost me more than what I paid for my reel; probably get me a reel and a half…. And this was one of the cheaper models I could find. Not saying that the bearings will cost u an arm and a leg, it just happen my reel was dirt cheap.

Anyhow the following are just personal observations I wanted to share and would be grateful for inputs from those who tested Boca bearings also. Advance thanks!

First Impression:
Slapped on the Bocas using stock grease and found out immediately the reel became silent during free spin. Original bearings on this particular reel were noisy… also had a ceramic Abec 7 from another bearing maker; we will call it Brand X to differentiate for comparison purpose… still found the Boca to be Silent.

Free spin:
The reel happened to be magged for casting and for comparison purposes the free spin were recorded with mag fully unwind.

The stock bearings that came with the reel didn’t give much free spool recorded something like the low 20s secs for free spin.

The Brand X recorded a free spool of approximately 45 secs.
Brand X is unshielded and totally cleaned and lube solely for casting.

The Boca come in between the stock and the Brand X at approximately 35 secs.
The Boca still got those factory fitted grease which I can’t be bothered to remove and re-lube.

Casting:
The result of these casting were done on the field… conditions that I would consider relatively similar. I got a pair of these reels so it allowed me to test bearings on similar conditions.

The stock bearing was tested for distance and to be honest the stock bearings provide very good distances for fishing. Easily surpass the 100m mark.

Brand X bearing recorded a PB during still condition. Not much wind. Compare to the stock bearing Brand X produces kinda high pitch noise, probably due to the ceramic balls.

Boca was tested under slightly windy condition and recorded distances similar to PB. The speed of the line was peeling off the reel was very scary as compared to Brand X. Noise level somewhat similar to Brand X.


Conclusion
I would be interesting to see how the Boca perform, when all those factory fitted grease removed and re-lube with lighter lubricants. Although during the test noted that the grease are already quite a handful to handle under the same reel condition I cast Brand X. A solution to removing the grease and introducing light oils would be to increase braking power but that would result in tampering with the test protocol providing inconsistent result.

At the end of the day all I can say is this: this test is inconclusive.

[stickbom!]

Jeez now that's what I call a Mee Siam special

[DaFrogman]

Hooked dude,

Which one of the Boca bearing ranges did you use?.... They have a large variety both ceramic hybrid (Ceramic Balls, metal races and housing) and normal (all metal construction)....

I use Boca for a number of reels where I feel they may offer a better alternative to the stock bearings, but my considerations tend to be more towards corrosion resistance rather than just freespool. Boca certainly know their bearings and I have been very pleased with both their performance and value for money.

Regards,

Saimee.

[hooked]

Hi DaFrogman,
How are you dude... had a few chance to travel to Brunei for work but unfortunately i couldn't fish... wanted to try fish off the oil rig...it was raining hard out for a couple of times, just my luck!

Anyway back to the bearings, the ones i purchased, meant purely for casting, i really like the smoothness of these bearings when it comes to cranking and seriuosly considering one for my z30 but i need to sort out the bearing dimensions before i order hahahaha which particular model are u using?

Anyhow, this is the one i got for my reels...

SMR103C-YZZ #5 NB2 Details
Item Information
Click to enlarge
(Not Actual Product)

Part Number: SMR103C-YZZ #5 NB2
Product Type: Radial Bearings
Description: Ceramic Lightning, shielded bearings are specially designed for relatively clean operating environments. These bearings have ceramic balls, with stainless steel races, retainers and shields. Ceramic hybrids are lighter, capable of achieving higher RPMÆs and sustaining higher operating temperatures than traditional bearings. Bearings that are packed in grease will require a short break in period to loosen up. Grease can be removed before shipping upon request. Grade 10 SI3N4 Ceramic Balls, ABEC #5, (3x10x4)MM


Many Thanks for the feedback and information. Also would like to check anyone tried those crazy as full ceramic bearings? I can feel them calling out for me hahahahaha

[kingfisher23]

I've tried a set of fully-ceramic bearings in my Abu tournament casting reel and I don't think they'd be worth the $40 per bearing they cost. Especially considering I like to buy bearings in sets of 10 to find matched sets.

I really like Boca, and I'm very interested in their new line, the Orange Seal bearings. Lightnings are good for the money, but the Orange Seal line is something that I've heard was developed specifically for long-casting reels.

The other type (my personal favorite) is T.G. Rocket bearings. They are ceramic hybrids (ceramic balls w/ steel races) that come spin-time matched from the factory and are shipped clean and dry. They give me the best performance and freespool of any bearings I've tried.

Evan

[hooked]

Hi Evan,
Thanks for sharing the info for the full ceramic bearings... appreciate it. Saw the orange seal bearings too, they look really interesting. Would be neat to test it out.

Another thing i note for the Bocas was the information available for the bearings RPM... do you take this into consideration when purchasing your bearings? Can't find much information on bearing RPM for other makes.

I have not handled the TG rocket's bearing therefore i can't compare their performances. A couple of the casters i know have these here and they like it a lot... I think if you get the TG lighter Abu 6500 spools it will come with a pair of TG bearing as well.

One interesting make that caught my attention was Smooth Drag Abec 5 bearings... anyone tested these?

[kingfisher23]

I've heard good things about the Rocket spools, but I have yet to see one in action or use one myself. Under our current rules they are not legal for competitions. The thing that has me really excited about the TG bearings is that they come from the factory already matched. When considering bearings for high-end tournament reels, I always look for matched spin times between bearings. No more than a 1-sec difference.

The SmoothDrag bearings, as far as I understand things, are built mainly for fishing. Not to say they wouldn't be good for casting, I just don't know.

I've also never really paid attention to the RPM info on bearings. I will generally clean the bearings I get in by spinning them on a lo-speed (15k RPM) dremel with toothpaste or my special formula in the races to polish them. I then run them on a hi-speed dremel after cleaning them out. If they start to make funny noises once they reach 35k RPM, I discard them for tournament use. The discarded bearings go in fishing reels.

Evan

PSL That is a sweey-looking reel. Would you mind sharing any info on it, ie original type, custom part sources, etc?

[hooked]

Evan,
Thanks for explaining how you choose your bearings, that will keep me occupied with the existing bearings i've got. I presume you do this for all similar sized bearings... what about those with different sized ones like the Daiwa 7ht?

Also, I noticed you are using the Benfields for casting... can you share how many mags you are using?

The reel i've got are currently using 2 different bearing size. Anyway its an Okuma Halogen, i've attached a picture for reference. Mods were done by a caster friend of mine, this includes: removal of the top cage, inserting a custom bar for support and a single mag unit (you need to discard some parts of the inner cage for the mag to access the spool)... its similar to the Blackmax conversion.

[DaFrogman]

Hooked dude,

I have used the Yellow Seal and Ultra Seal ranges quite a bit.

As I said, my selection of bearings is not tuned towards freespool and castability, but moreso towards longevity and corrosion resistance.

I use them mainly in the Ocea Jigger/Trinidad/Kaikon range and all the reels share a wide range of common sizes. Its a shame that I didn't measure the bearings in Mike's Z30 when he sent it over to me, if not I could help you with the sizes. If you look at some sites like Smoothdrags, they will usually list the sizes for some Daiwa reels that probably run the same bearings as the Z30.

The bearing you listed is a greased bearing using lithium grease. You can also ask Boca to supply you with oiled or dry bearings if you prefer a lighter lubricant. They will also supply spare shields for those of you who like to open up the rubber shields on their bearings to clean and relube.

At the moment I am testing their Yellow Shielded bearings in some corrosion prone areas like the lower/outer handle bearing in the Ocea Jigger handles. In so far as cost vs performance I think the hybrid ceramics offer a lot over most stock bearings. I am still somewhat unconvinced about the various surface treatments touted by most major reel manufacturers now. The bearing balls are the tiniest part in most of the bearings and they are the most likely to start corroding in a saltwater environment, next would be the bearing races then the housing itself. So ceramic balls tend to survive a lot better and have less inertia for freespool considerations.

My experience is that maintenance is the key to bearing longevity and in fact to the long term survival of all saltwater-use fishing gear. But for you long casting aficiandos, I reckon a dry bearing or the TG style treatment is the key... There are quite a few "ultra" lubes on the market that also seem to work well.

Good luck guys and great to see such an informative discussion.

Regards,

Saimee

[kingfisher23]

I'm very interested in the Halogen. It looks like I'm going to have to get one of the HG400's in soon and play around with it.

As far as two-sized bearings go, I haven't dealt much with them for casting purposes. Most of my work is Penn 525s and Abus. But regardless, both bearings will be spinning at the same rate when freespooling, so I'd say match them up the same way. If you have one bearing on one side of the spool spinning faster than the other side, it can lead to spool control issues.

My Benfield came with four Ultramag magnets installed (the black tube-shaped ones), but to gain more variable control I switched them out for nickel-coated rare-earth magnets. I now run three rare-earths on the tray.

For ocean fishing reels tuned for corrosion resistance, you simply cannot beat Penn Blue Grease. That is what I put in any reel that doesn't need to freespool well. My Jigmasters, Senators, shark reels and spinning reels all have Blue Grease in the bearings with the shields replaced. I only like metal-shield bearings, and I always replace the rubber or wax seals with metal ones for all my reels.

For surf fishing reels that need to cast (SLOSH, Saltist, Penn 525, Abu 6500, etc) I like Corrosion-X, Red Rocket Fuel or TG Lightning Grease (which is one step up from the RRF). Freshwater casting reels generally get Quantum Hotsauce.

Tournament casting reels are a variable and tempermental lot. I use Red, Yellow or Tournament Rocket Fuel in them. I do not like running bearings dry. Oil thins out faster than any human can back off magnets, so with oil you can get that instant initial braking without having to run too much magnets. IMHO, too much mag in the beginning can kill a cast. The type of oil I put in the bearings depends on the caster, the mag setup and sometimes even the conditions on a given day. You have to be concious of the weather. Hot and humid means the reels will run faster than you're used to. Case in point, day two of our recent Nationals casting tournament. It seemed like everyone who stepped to the line in the first round snapped off. The moisture in the air and the heat made the oil thin out and reels were ruinning hot. I couldn't back my mags all the way to my "safe" position without risking a blowup. After the humidity died a bit, everything went back to normal.

Evan