I have two of these , both handles had to be replaced due to plastic teeth shredding off, i aint a genius but i know not to mix plastic and metal when it comes to gears and teeth , the same happened to my replaced handles but fox would not replace because they said i was over tightening them, they said they have never heard of this problem before even , not realising my mate has 4 and had the same problem twice ,which they replaced twice, nothing but liars and cheats. avoid at all costs. Not worth the hassle. Have purchased two new handles , only so i can auction off on ebay. SORRY FOX NICE TRY BUT NOT EVEN CLOSE.

I bought these reels after a recommendation from a friend, i originally had the shimano baitrunners and had no problems in the 10 years or so i used them for. After using the Fox reels for just over a year i can conclude that these are positively the worst reels in my opinion on the market ! They are unnecessarily heavy as they obviously contain nothing more than plastic clutch fittings. I looked after these reels as i do with all my fishing gear and disappointingly the baitrunner clip decided to shear off while clipping back into place. The clutch totally seized shortly after this for no apparent reason. After reading terrible reviews of Fox's aftercare service i decided to find this out for myself and confirmed how bad this was after 8 weeks waiting for a replacement baitrunner clip to arrive. All 3 reels have deteriorated in some form due to poor quality and cheap fittings and not to any mis treatment or over use as i will unfortunately be using these again. If anyone is thinking about buying these reels first or second hand then please avoid them like the plague, all they will do is make you forget what a pleasure it is to have a proper reel which does the job.

Really not sure about the quality of the stratoss. Looks good out the box, feels heavy, and chunky.

But, the handle of my reel bent randomly whilst being transported - ok this could have been a freak accident, my fault. but its never happened to another reel of mine in 20 years.

Then, last week, the reverse drag stop working.

going to send back to fox now and see what they say.

Very disapointed - AVOID is my advice.

While using my brand new `Fox Stratos FS 10000` about the twentieth time, the `free spool lever` just fell apart. On examination I noticed the top screw in the free spool lever was missing, this was either missing on purchase or has worked its way out on its own, now I can`t find a place to purchase a replacement.

All of the above would suggest on paper that this real is one very smooth operator, but sadly all these gimicks come at a price. These are by far the most tempramental reels I have ever owned, and in the space of one year have had all three reels replaced for varying failing parts and although fox can not be faulted for there service I just cant work with tackle that I can neither trust or rely on. The worst incidence I experienced was the bait runner facilty completley failed on me and wouldnt disengage whilst attached to the other end was very angry 34lb linear carp (for me this was my uk PB) that I had to handline in from 80 yards out not good sorry.

When you spend £130 per reel and you have five like me, you expect high quality components but then find parts are fitted to possibly make more money out of you. i think i will use another manufacturer in future. fox to me has always meant quality until now. All my gear is fox but just how many other things have they cut corners on. how long will the other 4 reels last?