‘Stradic’ named spinning reel initially released as Coresolid Series previously, and as introduced already in 2015, then 16 Stradic Ci4+ has released in 2016, as Quick Response Series. And last year in 2019 new Stradic has been released as renewal of 15 Stradic, as Coresolid Series as well. Could be confused, right?
So new Quick Response Series reel, renewal o 16 Stradic Ci4+, has been given the new name ‘Vanford’ – obviously telling you it is a ‘brother’ of Vanquish.
As of this, Vanford is quite light and quick response, but very affordable reel like previous model.
New MGL – Magnum Light Rotor, same as Vanquish
This is personally, the biggest change from previous 16 Stradic Ci4+. When 19 Vanquish released, the new shape Magnum Light Rotor has been featured. That is stronger than ever, but so light spinning by asymmetric shape with Ci4+ Carbon material. Because of this, Vanquish is no longer be ‘Only Light’ game reel but you can even use for casting to light jigging game.
Because of its toughness and strength, new MGL is hard to be bent, which is very important especially when you fight with stronger fish, therefore reeling can be much smoother and easier. Releasing line by drag system can be much smoother, which reduces of chance for line breaks incredibly.
Now why am I explaining this such long? – The answer is, because this 20 Vanford has exactly the same MGL Spool of 19 Vanquish! Yes, EXACTLY THE SAME.
It means the smoothness and weight of the rotor itself are the same as high end Quick Response spinning reel, by lower cost than Vanquish.
Wouldn’t it be pretty cool?
All Ci4+ Body
So would it be exactly the same as 19 Vanquish? – Of course, not.
The biggest difference is the body material. 19 Vanquish has magnesium main body frame + Ci4+ body cover (but the screw holes are actually made by metals, so it won’t be damaged easily).
Against that, 20 Vanford has fully Ci4+ carbon body. Ci4+ is SHIMANO’s original strong and tough but light carbon material, so Vanford still has great power but of course, weaker than 19 Vanquish. But because of this, weight comparison of those 2 reels are quite similar.
If you think about medium lure fishing – let’s compare to 20 Twin Power and 20 Vanford. Basically, PE#1.0 – #1.2 can be used for this type of fishing, so if you choose 20 Twin Power, C3000MHG can be your choice, and its weight is 215g. 3000MHG – is 230g, so if I were you, I would choose as light as possible because normal Seabass rods are around 130-150g thinking about tackle balance.
If you see 20 Vanford, 3000MHG is just 200g, 30g lighter than Twin Power. Even comparing to Twin Power C3000MHG this is even 15g lighter. It means, you could choose 20 Vanford 3000MHG with the same or better tackle balance of Twin Power but with larger body with larger drive gear, which can have more power. If your reel has stronger power, you might be able to think to use for other type of fishing as well.
This is not suitable situation for all the fishing type of course, for example if you use new reel for heavy duty use, such as shore jigging, and offshore fishing, Twin Power can be your better choice as it has metal Rotor and metal body frame.
So, of courese, it is case by case thing, but as above, this 20 Vanford can be your best choice, if you have lower budget than Stella / Vanquish, or for your second reels.
Spec and Release Date
20 Vanford lineups are very similar to 19 Vanquish, from C2000 to C5000 with normal / speed / extra speed gear types and the price are in between 30,000 – 34,000 yen.
2500S / 2500SHG / C3000 / C3000SDH / 3000HG / C3000XG are released in September 2020, which means they are already on sale.
3000MHG / 4000 / 4000MHG / 4000XG / C5000XG will be released in October, and C2000S / C2000SHG / C2500SHG will be in November.
