Shimano Vanford

“Vanford only noticeably flexes under the gnarliest pressure like vertically pumping a fish from the depths with 30lb test and high drag.”

“I’ve checked multiple Vanfords in different shops myself and all of them felt bad. Noisy bearings, clicking sounds, you can feel the gearing through the handle”

“I use a vanford 2500 , deadly reel never have an issue with it great line lay get very little wind knots and it’s just all around a brilliant reel”

“My first 24 Vanford had buzzing gears out of the box due bad gear alignment, got replacement, and sold it after 3 fishing sessions, nothing faulty here just the feel too unrefined for that price category.”

“I’ve run vanfords for 4 years or so and the only issue I had was a line roller making noise on one of them so I bought a replacement.”

“I have the 2500 and it has caught everything from the dinkiest of speckled trout to 42” redfish and jack crevalle.”

“Vanford is a CI4 reel so it is very very light but such frame can flex when used in high drag hign test line set up”

“The Vanfords are nearly perfect for my uses given the light weight and MGL rotor for effortless start and stops”

“Got this vanford last year and I’ve had trouble with it since. It has this grinding noise whenever it’s under tension from a fish or just a heavier lure.”

“I returned it for another and it has been a fine reel but my confidence in Shimano has been forever affected.”

“Personally I own both a Vanquish and a Vanford and would never buy a Stella or a Twin Power or a Stradic”

“we sent 4 out 10 back from the box where i worked. Spool is vobbly, very noticable if you give it a good spinn.”

“i got 2 vanfords they made similar noise, i took them to a friend's service, they were 100% not lubed.”

“it has a slight tick at one point in the spool oscillation. Otherwise it is very smooth and quiet.”

“it had the squeaky bearing on the line roller. Quite annoying on a brand new high-mid range reel.”

“couldn’t be happier with it, although I only fished it for a few hours it did great.”

“The problems I encountered with the vanford were in the main the roller bearing and a noisy retrieve.”

“I also had a vanford, it was fine but prefered the feel of my daiwa spinning reels so I sold it”

“I’ve never noticed this and I have a few vanfords from the current and previous generation.”

“Myself and others have always had poor luck with the ci4/vanfords compared to the standard stradics.”

“feels like you can actually see the bottom your lure is scraping against.”

“As the owner of 3 2500 Vanfords I can tell you they are fantastic reels.”

“I bought a Vanford size 500 for ice fishing and haven't noticed any issues yet.”

“The drag on mine is jerky as well so I figure it must just be dried out lubricant.”