Do I or don't I?

[viney]

On the verge of ordering a Chris Lythe as a 30th birthday present to myself (hopefully will arrive in time) just don't know if I can warrant £625 on a reel when I could purchase a decent reel for half the price and I don't know if the wait would drive me mad!

[JV44]

Matt tbh mate a Sheffield will do everything you ever want but the choice as they say is yours....still owe you a couple of Peroni chap we are in Newbury picking up boat from dry dock Friday evening so give me a ring if you are about if not I will try to remember to give to James to give to you Steve

[Andy_1984]

£625 on a reel is crazy.

[Chris Plumb]

Order it now and you might get it by your 40th!

 

C.

[viney]

Cheers Steve I should be around, will drop you a text, James has Chloe this Saturday so you may see them then if not.

 

It is a lot Andy but it would be something to treasure and would not go down in value if well looked after.... And if Rustys is anything to go by putting £15 a month to one side would see me with enough to pay for it by the time it is ready!

 

Thats why I'm thinking of ordering it now Chris, that gives 4 1/2 years for it to be ready for my 30th.... Maybe just maybe!

 

Of course the other option is to pull my finger out and crack on with designing and machining my own, in the process of replacing a bent spindle and adjustable drag on my strikeright

Edited May 7, 2014 by viney

[kirisute]

You live once and once only!

[Rusty]

On the verge of ordering a Chris Lythe as a 30th birthday present to myself (hopefully will arrive in time) just don't know if I can warrant £625 on a reel when I could purchase a decent reel for half the price and I don't know if the wait would drive me mad!

 

Matt, the question is why wouldn't you do it? In fact I'd order two.

 

You won't pay anything for at least four years and when you do the price will still be £625. By that time the price of new ones will be up to £700 so you can sell the second one at a tidy profit and offset the cost of the one you keep. If during that time your circumstances change you can cancel at no cost to you, CL simply offers the manufacturing slot to another customer on the list so it's no skin off his nose.

 

I know people baulk at the seemingly high purchase price of his reels but I think that's missing the point. The price is fixed when you order and you don't pay until the reel is at the final assembly stage so surely ordering one is a no brainer. When you consider that recent sales of Witcher reels have topped £2k when Lythe's build quality is much better then I think CL's reels offer the best value out there. Other centrepins will do all you want whilst quietly depreciating, how many reels will make you money while you're enjoying using it?

[Anderoo]

Serious question for those who own some of these top end centrepins - do you insure them? If so, how much does it cost you?

 

It seems to me that they are investments that happen to also be fishing tackle. Nothing wrong with that of course, and as Rusty says, the sensible thing to do from an investment point of view is to order more than one. It feels like investing in fine wine - invest wisely and you're going to make money; but you aren't ever really going to get to drink the wine.

[Rusty]

A good point about insurance, I haven’t made any arrangements other than my household contents policy. I’ll look into that, I’m sure there are specific policies available for fishing gear considering the value of kit a session angler might have accumulated.

 

As a keen centrepin user I see the investment issue from another viewpoint, first and foremost the reel has to do its job and be enjoyable to use, if it doesn’t depreciate then that’s a bonus. The point I was making is that if you’re undecided about whether to take the plunge (as Matt is) then the fact that you won’t lose any money makes the decision for you in my opinion.

 

But that raises an interesting question for anglers who don’t use this type of reel regularly. There are many AN subscriber’s who’s viewpoint is that Lythe’s reels are overpriced and there are much lower cost alternatives which will perform just as well. That’s true but given what we know CL’s payment arrangements and the resale value of his reels why wouldn’t you order one? If there was a savings account which guaranteed a minimum tax free return of 25% over four years (and you invested at the end of the four years) wouldn’t you be queuing up at the counter?

[JV44]

Yep very persuavive argument Chris think I will order one for my 40th after all its got 4 years to get here

 

the monbey thing aside which is win win if you realy like something/gives a reel feel good factor [see what I did there ] then why not I guess as I said the choioce is yours .

If I sat down and counted up the cost of the boat per annum ouch.....so try not to judge others spending habits be it 300 pound carp reels 1500 squids worth of pole

Go on matt you know you want to and after chec king my shares last night think I may order a few as well