in a reel world situation does a small amount of imbalance affect its use. what i mean is the only way you can get the imperfection to be seen is by spinning it while holing it upright. mine has a very slight wobble but it is only noticed when i spin it as fast as humanly possible, something that will never happen in a fishing situation, or balancing it on a table and seeing where the reel comes to rest each time it is spun. for the £30 i paid, i can't be bothered, a dap of sewing machine oil and i'll worry about the bearings when the fail, after all they'll cost more than the reel did to change