The changes that Shimano have made to the Sustain series for the upcoming season are more than just skin deep. While the grey, silver and gold livery looks super cool, there have been a number of important design modifications made to them as well.

Firstly, the new Sustains make use of Shimano’s exclusive Paladin Gear Durability Enhancement, where a cold-forged aluminium drive gear and hardened brass pinion gear combine to provide a smoother, longer lasting gear system. Then there’s the Propulsion Line Management System, where a re-worked spool lip, bail arm and roller, and bail trip mechanism combine to create longer casts with less friction and no annoying wind knots, which can be an issue when using braid.

The AeroWrap II system ensures that the line is given a slight criss-cross profile when wound onto the spool without any hills or valleys. And then of course we have all the standard Shimano features: things such as seven SA-RB and a roller bearing, a maintenance port to give access to the drive train, Fluidrive II, Dyna-Balance and Super Stopper.

The drags are fully waterproof and the drag range on each model is perfectly suited for braid use, with plenty of braking power there if the situation warrants it.