It’s always a good year when Shimano bring out a new Stella – the flagship fishing reel in their range. Luckily for us, 2010 is one of those years. Introducing the new Shimano Stella featuring X-SHIP (Extra Smooth & High Power).
As you can see, the reel has been aesthetically modified once more and is as beautiful as ever. I’m sure this will be enough for some anglers to part with a large chunk of change, however Shimano have added so much more in this new model. At the heart is X-SHIP. The ‘Extra Smooth’ appears to come from improved bearing placement on the main shaft. The reel also features Shimano’s Full Floating Shaft. The ‘High Power’ is driven by a new design with a larger drive gear than that within the 07 model.
As in recent years, Shimano has chosen to release its new improvements on the smaller sized reels in the Stella range. They’ll launch with reels sized between 1000 to 4000 when they land in Japanese stores through March & April. Aside from the obvious handle style and cosmetic changes through the range there are material differences too. The smaller 1000 & 2000 models feature the ultra lightweight Super Mg magnesium body plus a single 2500-sized model – the HGS. The remaining 2500 models plus the 3000 & 4000 reels are constructed with Shimano’s Power AL aluminium alloy. All reels are finished with the new E.I. anti corrosion finish.
That’s about as much as we can interpret from the Japanese sites, so we’ll leave you with some more pictures to drool over…
Looks like there will be a whole range of tuning parts available in Japan
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