I have a pair installed in a Curado E7. The seals are finiky to re-install after you clean and lube the bearings. Many are deciding to just leave them off which I did. Compared to a regular E7 with same line, rod and bait; I noticed a 5-10% casting and pitching improvement. Given the cost, I decided this was a marginal idea.
In another forum, I was talking about these bearings when a member offered to sell me some he was going to start distributing mid-January. I know him pretty well so told him to send me a pair. They are fully shielded ABEC 9 bearings and I found the first pair to be better then the Orange seals. I then bought all he had on hand before Christmas and have installed them in all my reels. In the E7, these bearings provide a consistant 10% improvement vs. the stock bearings.
My prognosis for the ABEC 9 bearings in my Chronarch MG50's is even better. I was able to cast a 1/8oz head and grub about 95% the distance I could throw the upgraded E7 with a 3/8oz jig. I'm seeing the spool turn for about 9 seconds with no line on a clean MG50. Spool will spin for 15-20 seconds once I install the ABEC 9s.
In short, I would try something other then the Orange seals and I prefer a sealed bearing. When the guy in Knoxville gets his inventory of ABEC 9's in later this week, I would be happy to share his information with anyone wanting it.
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