Cardinal 55

[Chris Thomson]

Hi, any on here still favour this classic over modern reels ?

 

[Clive Kenyon]

I have 44 Xpress that is used for chub and general river fishing on a fibreglass rod from the same era - early 70's.

 

[Neil Smart]

I have 44 Xpress that is used for chub and general river fishing on a fibreglass rod from the same era - early 70's.

OK... Why?☺

 

[Richard Turner]

Hi, any on here still favour this classic over modern reels ?

I'm still using an ABU closed face 503 which I bought in Reading in 1966 to replace a Mitchell reel. As it was made in Sweden it still works perfectly and has landed many tench, a few carp and pike to around 15lb. As a penniless student, I couldn't run to the 505.
Now picked up several more ABU closed face reels but the 503 is still the best.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

Hi, any on here still favour this classic over modern reels ?

Good reels Chris. Let down by the plastic spools but the typical Swedish over kill engineering in them makes them essentially last forever. Machined steel gears and excellent tolerances between parts, they were top end back in the day…… before I was born
The 57 is still highly respected among old school pikers.

 

[Clive Kenyon]

They were a product of a short period of time. Produced by a company that took pride in their products and didn't cut corners. And some of the designs were breathtakingly simple, yet efficient. Then, like Mitchell and other quality manufacturers, the bean counters took over from the engineers and their products became just like all the others.

We might have smoother reels today, but I doubt that many would still be servicable after 40 or 50 years of use.

 

[Mike Hodgkiss]

I use 55's and 54's , as stated they are superbly engineered and very robust , when Garcia got involved with ABU the quality deteriorated

 

[Rupert Drury]

Funny enough, I gave mine an airing with my Abu Legerlite only earlier this week!

 

[Rupert Drury]

Funny enough, I gave mine an airing with my Abu Legerlite only earlier this week!

 

[Rupert Drury]

Old school fishing tonight. Not the biggest barbel I’ve had by a long chalk, but it certainly felt like it on the old Abu glass rod!