I've heard a lot of people rave about them and there is a guy on BBC that sells them for about 20 bucks I think. I agree with cleaning your reel (well) and then oiling and greasing as applicable. short of a crank bait, how often do you really need to cast a country mile? I fish a lot of short flips and pitches and accurate casts to structure. I can cast accurately for a distance long enough for me to be in the strike zone for as long as I think I need to or as long as my patience allows. Most bearings are made of stainless steel which is incredibly hard. There is absolutely no way I can see a person could wear out a stainless bearing unless they had a lot of dirt and grease in their reel for years. Even then, I would be surprised if the bearings were damaged and couldn't be cleaned and oiled and work flawlessly. thats just my .02