? about Lew's Reels at Academy Sports

[wordty]

Two reels on sale at Academy by Lew's...both on sale at $69 from $119 but I can't find their model codes on any other website (TLZ1H and TLZ1SH)...are they just models made for Academy? They are called the Tournament Speed Spool and Tournament Laser MG Speed Spool...just seeing if they are a good product.

[TNtroller]

Odds are they are models just for Academy.

[Reel Tune]

Both of these reels are Academy only reels


The TLZ1H is a right hand retrieve, 6.4:1 gear ratio with a 10lb drag, and 9 double shielded SS bearings with (1) 1-way roller bearing, so 10 bearings total. The reel holds 120yds of 12lb line, and a retrieve rate of 28” per crank. The reel weighs 7.4oz

The TLZ1SH is a right hand retrieve, 7.1:1 gear ratio with a 10lb drag, and 10 SS double shielded bass bearings, the reel holds 120yds of 12lb line, and since the spool is the same size as the TLZ1H, but with a higher gear ratio so I would say the line retrieve is around 30-31” per crank.


I just received my first Lews for cleaning yesterday and started tearing it apart. It’s a Speed Spool, but not the same one as either of these two. It’s a Tournament MB Speed Spool MSRP 139.99


From the tear down it seems like a decent reel for the money. The quality of materials isn’t the best and they have taken some shortcuts like on the drive shaft, worm gear, and line guide pawl. I think the first failure, if there is one will be with the worm gear and line guide pawl just depends on how hard it is fished. The reel wasn’t overly greased from the factory, but was overly oiled. It was extremely wet inside. There was a little excessive grease on the pinion gear and yoke which will significantly negatively affect casting distance.

[Down4ttown]

Decent reels but I would hold off on buying anything just yet. TW usually will mark down their higher end Lews around Xmas time. I got a team Lews for 150 last year. If you can snag a tourney pro or higher you will be truly happy.

[goreds.king]

Jeremy...are you cleaning reels on the side? I was going to send off a few of my reels after the summer. If you are that's good to know.

[Reel Tune]

Yeah Brock, I was spending $200-$300 a year sending off reels $20-$30 a reel and 20-30 reels total it was getting where I thought if I just did it myself it would save me a lot of money. So I've opened it up and started doing other peoples also.