War between Sonik & Greys

[RobertZilla]

Hello

The situation is very tense I must decide between these two: 

Greys GT4 And Sonik Dominator X, both in 12” 3.25lb

Most of the time I spend carping on rivers and 20% on lakes, where I need to achieve bigger distances. But fish playing has a greater advantage over a stiffness or the ability to throw lead to the moon

What would you buy and why?

Tnx

[B.C.]

Not sure I'd pay the rrp for Sonik rods, before thoroughly checking them out in the flesh..... I bought some S6's reduced, which were previously their top end rod, before the Dominator X....  when they hit the shelves they were £200 a pop, not worth that imo, hell of a lot of glossy laquer over all the whippings, too much, looks as though they have tried to hide some dodgy whipping...... They do the job, but imo no better than a £70-£80 rod.... what I've noticed is that mid range rods are usually a price hike on budget rods and as such are eventually sold at a budget price when a newer model comes out........

Can't remember hearing anything bad about Greys rods (others may have)......

Given the choice, if I was buying , I would choose the G4's if I could get them at a decent price, or even G3's which are dirt cheap, this is based on the Sonik rods I have. But ideally I'd be saving for some decent rods, Century, Harrison, Free Spirit etc. Because in my mind, a mid range rod, is a budget rod with a higher price..... Just my op.... Good luck 

[greekskii]

personally i'd go sonik over greys, just because Greys tend to change their range often, so you might find yourself without spares if you need them, whereas the dominator X is new to sonik so spares aplenty for the next few years. My sonik Sk3 rods have been battered and abused and still have life left, although I will upgrade to Gravity X at some point. 

From what I gather Greys customer service is not great, whereas when i've dealt with Sonik for a new tip section it was with me the next day and only heard good thing. 

Best idea is to get your hands on both of them at a tackle shop and see which suits.

[framey]

1 hour ago, greekskii said:

personally i'd go sonik over greys, just because Greys tend to change their range often, so you might find yourself without spares if you need them, whereas the dominator X is new to sonik so spares aplenty for the next few years. My sonik Sk3 rods have been battered and abused and still have life left, although I will upgrade to Gravity X at some point. 

From what I gather Greys customer service is not great, whereas when i've dealt with Sonik for a new tip section it was with me the next day and only heard good thing. 

Best idea is to get your hands on both of them at a tackle shop and see which suits.

Sonik change their line up alot as well tbf

i had 9 sonik sk4 upto a few uears ago 

couldnt complain about them at all

also have a set of greys stalkers as they were cheap good rods for the money but corks seem floppy but they are 3 or 4 years old now

[welder]

Greys.

Ian

[salokcinnodrog]

19 hours ago, RobertZilla said:

GT4 cost me 89.99£ and Sonik Dominator 86.95£. So price is the same.

I had before second hand Century FS 13” 3.5lb and they were clumpy, heavyweight and I didn’t like them. I sold them to my buddy and he is happy with them for almost 4 years now  

Ok Greys : Sonik is 60:40 for now  

 

Maybe because you had 13 footers rather than 12😉

 

The only Century rods I found heavy were a set of FMJ's I had. They could cast to the moon, but were very heavy. Really wish now I hadn't sold them for the distance casting I'm doing now.

 

 

Sonik or Greys?

Neither, I would be going back to Century given the choice❗️

[kevtaylor]

Neither!

Gotta be Harrison so get saving lol

Edited March 16, 2018 by kevtaylor

[kevtaylor]

2 hours ago, RobertZilla said:

Money actually isn’t a problem, it’s only that’s stupid for me having 1000£+ in rods. 

I rather spend money on baits, trips and fishing tickes, food etc  

I get that and the same applies to me, travel, food, bait, tackle, syndicate fees its a very expensive game.

However, when I needed extra yards on my casting and wasn't happy with the overall accuracy of my casting when giving it some, I realised my old rods just didn't have the backbone required and needed replacing.

I could have bought some Grays or Soniks but with custom built Torrix TEs available at £280 each I saved up and got them instead of buying budget rods.  Have I made the right choice, hell yes - TE's are right up there and for the money, represent good value IMO compared to other inferior rods at a much higher price.

Depends how you look at it, my mate bought a £700+pod and would never spend decent money on rods coz he doesn't see the point, whereas I would never spend that money on a pod that does nothing more than look a bit better than its cheaper rivals.  Good rods actually give you something tangible for the extra money and you can feel it, see it, benefit from it  

I'm not saying your choices are bad, far from it, but just making the point about aiming higher with such an important purchase if you can.

 

Edited March 16, 2018 by kevtaylor

[salokcinnodrog]

2 hours ago, kevtaylor said:

I get that and the same applies to me, travel, food, bait, tackle, syndicate fees its a very expensive game.

However, when I needed extra yards on my casting and wasn't happy with the overall accuracy of my casting when giving it some, I realised my old rods just didn't have the backbone required and needed replacing.

I could have bought some Grays or Soniks but with custom built Torrix TEs available at £280 each I saved up and got them instead of buying budget rods.  Have I made the right choice, hell yes - TE's are right up there and for the money, represent good value IMO compared to other inferior rods at a much higher price.

Depends how you look at it, my mate bought a £700+pod and would never spend decent money on rods coz he doesn't see the point, whereas I would never spend that money on a pod that does nothing more than look a bit better than its cheaper rivals.  Good rods actually give you something tangible for the extra money and you can feel it, see it, benefit from it  

I'm not saying your choices are bad, far from it, but just making the point about aiming higher with such an important purchase if you can.

 

I agree with Kev, although I do have a tarty P1 Pod.

 

For ages I stuck with Century's, I have had Armalite mk.l's, mk.ll's, SP's, FMJ's and NG's. The SP's were a real casting rod as well, although I made the error of selling them to a mate when I got the NG's, in 2.75 when I was fishing mostly ranges at a maximum of 100metres. The NG's will still cast over 100, but I do feel slightly undergunned at times, so I bought a set of The Ones in 3.25, for £50 each new. I prefer the Century's!

 

As others have said, there is a pricepoint at which rod quality seems so much higher, feel, casting ability, build standard. I made the point on another thread, I can drive at 120mph, but in a good car, a Ferrari. I would not manage it in a Nissan Micra! 

There is also something to be said for British quality as well, imported blanks don't have the same high tech carbons as available with British blanks. 

[nigewoodcock]

I don’t get this Far East Vs British carbon. 

Loads of top end carbon products are made in the Far East. Bike frames being one. 

[salokcinnodrog]

11 hours ago, nigewoodcock said:

I don’t get this Far East Vs British carbon. 

Loads of top end carbon products are made in the Far East. Bike frames being one. 

There is a trade embargo and sanctions that China does not get access to various grade carbons. The carbons produced in China are not as high a quality as those produced in Japan, and Korea and Taiwan ( Republic of China), are not allowed to deal those carbons with the Peoples Republic Of China, which is the big mainland. 

 

In fact, America and Mexico produce 48% of the Worlds carbon cloths, Taiwan 8% China 13%, and Britain 5%. British quality carbon cloths and prepregs are the highest quality in the world, and have been used in the Aeronautical and Space Industries, are still used in F1 and Indy Car racing.

 

I think you will also find, a certain British Rod manufacturer is also the only one who uses autoclave technology to remove air trapped in the blank between carbon and resin, and excess resin.

 

 

[kevtaylor]

15 hours ago, RobertZilla said:

Great infos. So now I understand why you have so many Centurys

Now I'm also starting to look a bit toward Century ADV and NG rods

 

 

Or Harrison Toŕrix TE Special 😊

[B.C.]

On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 13:28, RobertZilla said:

Money actually isn’t a problem, it’s only that’s stupid for me having 1000£+ in rods. 

I rather spend money on baits, trips and fishing tickes, food etc  

I know what you mean Rob, it all adds up mate...... Depends whether you want your new rods long term or for a few seasons and then another change. Which means you'll be trawling the forums again looking for advice...

As far as rods go, imo, there is budget and top end........ The marketing hype will try to convince you that certain budget rods are "mid range" and whack another £100 on top......

I've never been in the position to just go out just spend £1000 on a set of rods. But I did get my hands on some second hand NG's 2.75 tc at least a decade old but well looked after £100 each and they knock spots off any of my other newer rods....... Convinced me to save a while for some decent beefier rods... The Sonik s6 will fill the void for me until the pennies are saved. 

There's some good advice from the other lads on this thread who know their stuff on rods, through experience. You rarely find them asking for advice on kit, but they are happy to share their info. All the better for the rest of us.  

[salokcinnodrog]

5 hours ago, B.C. said:

I know what you mean Rob, it all adds up mate...... Depends whether you want your new rods long term or for a few seasons and then another change. Which means you'll be trawling the forums again looking for advice...

As far as rods go, imo, there is budget and top end........ The marketing hype will try to convince you that certain budget rods are "mid range" and whack another £100 on top......

I've never been in the position to just go out just spend £1000 on a set of rods. But I did get my hands on some second hand NG's 2.75 tc at least a decade old but well looked after £100 each and they knock spots off any of my other newer rods....... Convinced me to save a while for some decent beefier rods... The Sonik s6 will fill the void for me until the pennies are saved. 

There's some good advice from the other lads on this thread who know their stuff on rods, through experience. You rarely find them asking for advice on kit, but they are happy to share their info. All the better for the rest of us.  

Says it all really😉

 

While I do use my The Ones, I really do prefer the 2.75 NG's. 

I don't think I can cast much further with 3.25's than I can with the 2.75TC rods, and I seem to get more butt ring frap-ups with The Ones and the 50mm ringing compared to the 40's of the NG's, although I know the newer models from Century do have 50's, but that could be down to the stiffer line (P-line Floroclear is not the best casting line). When I used it on my SP's and 40mm, no problems with Aerlex's, but with it on Beastmaster 7000's it has caused a couple of frap-ups and crack-offs. It may be my timing and technique though, although thinking back I recall smashing a ring with the Beastmasters and the P-line on my NG's on a miscast.

 

 

The Ones are essentially a mid price rod, compared to top range rods in the SP's and NG's. I did have my NG's custom built for £690 by Century, the ball stop on the butt before it was standard. 

 

Playing fish I notice a difference, but I feel and watch the rod and line on both, although with the stiffer higher 3lb test curves I don't feel in control as much as with the lower TC.

In fact, one of my nicest looking 20's was caught on a Daiwa Pro-Specialist 1.5lb TC rod where I was very comfortable playing it away from an overhanging tree. That same rod landed numbers of fish, carp to 20+ and chub to 5lb on ledgered, float fished and floater fished baits. Sadly my hurry broke the tip as I put it in the car😖😳

 

My rods last a few years, I had the SP's from 2005 to 2012, the NG's I still have and The Ones are 2years old. I also have a very cheap set of Carp Kinetics in 2.5 for a small runs water, where the fish don't run to anything above doubles, and the park lake where I worry about thieving a...holics...

[B.C.]

3 hours ago, salokcinnodrog said:

Playing fish I notice a difference, but I feel and watch the rod and line on both, although with the stiffer higher 3lb test curves I don't feel in control as much as with the lower TC.

Same, surprisingly in weed too, where I can feel every bump or head shake, the softer rods behaving like a spring and I never feel like i'm going to get cut off, the rods absorb everything. The NG's 2.75, I haven't tried a long chuck with, but with some small shimmy 5500 xtc, they are nicely balanced and very accurate. Perfect little 2 rod set up for a 5 acre lake I've been invited back on to, which, if I'd known was going to happen, I would have held back on the CAA ticket..... Came completely out of the blue after an 8 year wait.... The Snoik S6 will get a good blasting on the SYndi I joined, by the time I've used them enough to give a solid review, they would have been discontinued (think they already are)...... That's another good reason to save for decent rods... Parts and repairs are easier to get done if needed..

[marker]

i'm with kevtaylor, i'm a 'torrix te' user myself and they are exceptional rods