Guides and Components
We stock a huge range of components to build our own rods and make these available to anglers and the trade to build on our blanks. We are the UK importer of Kigan guides and a main distibutor of American Tackle components. In addition we have our own range of stainless steel and delrin collars and buttons, rod bags and cork. We can also supply brushes, tape, adhesives, more or less everything you might need to finish a rod. Pictured right is our direct sales website “River City Tackle” which has these items listed. For trade enquiries contact us direct on the contact number or email at the top of the page. Below are a few comments on the wide range of guides available today.
Which guides?
There has never been so much choice when it comes to rod guides, reel seats and components so here are a few comments to help you decide what to use.
Let us start with guides. Our classic carp rods use Kigan 3D gunsmoke coloured guides with Zirconia centres. Over the years we have used these they have proven totally reliable and wear resistant, We love them. Kigan also make a high stand of angled “anti frap” guide, the ZDZ which has proven to be very popular on distance rods, and looks pretty good too. The other point of interest is that for the their style and size the ZDZ are surprisingly light, as light as some titanium offerings, but without the price premium. The only down side to the high stand off guides is that they take a little more space in your holdall.
American Tackle have changed the market with their guides. The lightweight Vortex and Ti-Forged Air guides dispense with ceramic centres, having a hard chrome liner, and save weight as a consequence. This helps make any rod feel lighter and crisper, and tips recover quicker during casting.
There is no one “best” guide. For longest life, you cannot beat ceramic. For weight saving, go lightweight American Tackle Vortex or Ti-Forged, and for distance, Kigan ZDZ
Kigan high stand off angled ZDZ guide with ceramic centres
Kigan 3D guides with Zirconia centre.
American Tackle Ti-Forged guides with hard chrome centres.
American Tackle Vortex guide, hard chrome centres.
Reel Seats
Reel seat choice is a personal thing. Ideally a reel seat should flex with the blank, be light, and hold the reel securely. That is why our standard fittings are either Fuji DPS or American Tackle carbon seats. But today Alps make some beautiful well engineered reel seats and they make an interesting alternative. The ALPS CAH seat, available through River city Tackle, looks great with a cork handle. If building a rod with a metal seat, be sure to use a size that is not tight on the blank. They need clearance to allow the blank to flex without touching against a hard metallic edge.
