I noticed in a catalog last night that the graphite bodied SS series now have infinite reverse along with a new line wrapping system. I wonder if it will spread to the rest of the line. Also, why would you by a comparably sized slammer over an SS now or vice versa?

Has not spread to the other reels.
You think when they redesigned the reel they would have placed an oversized line roller on it. :af: but no the y are still using the same rollers from the older reels.:smash:
It's about time they started listening to fisherman and got rid of a few of their designers. They are way behind all the other reel companies.

Originally posted by mikecc
It's about time they started listening to fisherman and got rid of a few of their designers. They are way behind all the other reel companies. why would they change when people just keep buying the reels just because they are Penns. stop buying them, and they will wake up. i haven't bought a new penn reel since i bought a 6500SS about 10 years ago. until their profit goes down, they have no reason to change things.

"It's about time they started listening to fisherman and got rid of a few of their designers. They are way behind all the other reel companies"

Amen!!!

Same thing is happening with their rods... for my money you cant beat Penn Slammer (6'6" 20-40) for a deep water blackfish rod... broke one of the lasts of our originals last year, replaced it with the same exact model and rated rod, but it is thinner and a bit softer... WTF... if it aint broke dont fix it... seems they break and fix more and more even when it was fine... all to make another 10cents a rod.....
:mad: :mad: :mad:

They now call the new reels SSG.There's only one reason Penn has given the SS series reels a major overhaul...all the imports such as Okuma,Tica etc.And on the higher end Shimano.

People simply have stopped buying the 5500SS and smaller models.Why?Because they're junk.People still buy the larger models because of the size.I own a 4500SS and the above mentioned and have had catastrophic failures with both.

A simple comparison:My Shimano Spheros 8000 cost $100 even a 1.5yrs ago.Penn 5500SS $8 dollars less.In every possible way you can think of the Shimano is absolutely superior.I fished that Shimano HARD...no problems whatsoever.And the Spheros is considered their lowend model!

The only Penn spinners I'll ever trust are the 700 series.......
as long as they don't make any stupid changes to them.