These reels have performed flawless so far for us, many sails and striped marlin on them. Smooth drags and great free spool for pitching baits!

This reel COULD have been a great one. The reel holds plenty of 20lb/25lb mono, it's fairly light-weight, the finish is attractive (although they had some issues early-on getting the blue on the drag lever & spool to be consistent in color; I expect they will be able to resolve that issue with no problem), its Inches-Per-Turn value is good, the drag seems smooth, etc.

However, there is one glaring issue that caused me to have to send the 4 reels back that I purchased: The Anti-Reverse system. I had assumed (my bad!) that based on the reel's price and its intended purpose it would have a smooth anti-reverse system, with an ARB (Anti-Reverse [roller] Bearing, or "clutch") instead of the older, clunkier, pawl & ratchet-gear system.

No such luck...

The reels all had 1/4" or more of back-play in the handle/shaft/gear system, and if you aren't particular when reeling line in you'll find that a rather loud and jarring "clunk" can be generated every 3~10 times the handle makes a revolution.

Frankly, I just don't get it. All of my $50~$150 spinning reels have ARB-based Anti-Reverse systems that provide for an extremely smooth winding motion and virtually 0" of back-play.

And there is also another option that's midway between the two alread discussed: A multiple-pawl and ratchet-gear system. This system has 2 pawls, 180 degrees out of phase, that cut the back-play in half. I'm pretty sure my Avet's (& possibly my Penn Fathoms) are equipped with this type of system, and while not as good as an ARB-based clutch mechanism they do a passable job.

Of course, it turns out that Maxel isn't alone on this one: I also recently tried the Fin-Nor Lethal series because they claim the A-R systems on those reels are based on a "continuous anti-reverse clutch: (which normally implies an ARB, at least in my mind), but their handles are almost as "clunky" as those on the OMS10's.

If Maxel had spent just a little more time and money on the A-R system for this reel I would have 6 of them spooled-up with line and mounted on the rods I have for them, ready to head offshore.

However, they are now back at TackleDirect and I am back in "shop & evaluate mode" once again...