ABU 7000/1

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 1:14 pm

Okay I know Abu are a Swedish Company but where are the 7000 / 7001 manufactured now ?????, and what is the quality like as compared to the swedish ones, ...................bottom line are they any good ?? or are they like cheap and tacky ??? or even crappy.....IS £80 VFM ????.

Cheers JOLI

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 4:44 pm

Unfortunately .... China has a big hand in the 7000i.

There's a lot of plastic in it (the internals are pretty similar to the old cheap and nasty SEVEN) and one particular weak point is the inside part of the spool engage, which was seriously naff on the one I recently sorted. I've also come across the odd foot off the reel cage and even power handles that have snapped, though both these problems are rare.

That doesn't neccesary mean its utter crap as it is very much cheaper than the swedish built ones, but cheaper does come at a price and you won't be able to dish it out so much abuse as with the older ones. Its an okay reel for £80 but personally I think for that you could get a very usable older one or a second hand Saltist or SLOSH.

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 5:54 pm

Hi Wizz, I suspected as much, don't know why a company spends decades building up a good solid reputation and give it away just to cut costs, suppose its a case of having to have 'both feet on the roundabout' or get dragged along on your knees !!!!!!!!!........it aint right angry

........ still these days don't go out as much as I used to and it might do for me @ £80 it wont get as much abuse as normal.............you think the 'SLOSH 30' might be an alternative??, got a question ??? does the 'SLOSH 30 fit a normal fuji style reel fitting ?? and is it not a bit ungainly ie bottom heavy ??.

CHEERS JOLI big grin

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 8:31 pm

joliroger wrote:

Hi Wizz, I suspected as much, don't know why a company spends decades building up a good solid reputation and give it away just to cut costs, suppose its a case of having to have 'both feet on the roundabout' or get dragged along on your knees !!!!!!!!!........it aint right angry

........ still these days don't go out as much as I used to and it might do for me @ £80 it wont get as much abuse as normal.............you think the 'SLOSH 30' might be an alternative??, got a question ??? does the 'SLOSH 30 fit a normal fuji style reel fitting ?? and is it not a bit ungainly ie bottom heavy ??.

CHEERS JOLI big grin

The 30 shouldn't need a huge reel seat .... its sold for the uk market and even the heaviest boatrods over here don't have anything extreme - most reels have a reel foot around standard size (if there is such a thing). To be honest I've never owned a 30, had a 20 once but only breifly as it wasn't really for me ... nothing wrong with it at all, just prefer other models of reel.

They are a bit unbalanced on the rod yes ... thats the price you pay for big heavy gears I'm afraid but in return you get reliability and a reel that will handle the rough stuff as well.