My opinion is you get what you pay for. Right now, the ones that have them seem to like them except for the drag. Chinese made reel with probably no quality control. But for the price what do you expect. I have a friend that bought one. He likes it but he's just getting back into fly fishing and the reel he had before was an old Browning. He does like the new reel being lighter than the Browning, but he's yet to have a fish on that needed the drag.
I'll keep my money on US made reels. Or old English reels. I doubt the chinese made will last more than a couple seasons if that long.

FWIW- I think you'll find "writers/reviewers" out there that will happily write up a great review for an item. Especially if they get to keep said item. Cheap advertising.

Dire Straits had it right in the song 'Money for Nothing'

Now that aint workin thats the way you do it
You play the guitar on the mtv
That aint workin thats the way you do it
Money for nothin and your chicks for free
Money for nothin and chicks for free

My only interaction with A.R.E. has been as a customer. I have no other connections to the company, its staff or owners.
I consider myself an experienced fly-fisher. When I started fishing I heard the theory that the reel was only storage for the line and therefore you should save money on reels. Experience has taught me that a reel needs to be good; In those few seconds you have when a fish bites you need to remove slack, adjust drag and start getting that fish in. You need to trust and rely on your reel. However – especially at lighter weights – the reel is still probably the best place to save money as far as fishing equipment is concerned.

I have now been using my A.R.E. 101 for a year and have been extremely happy with it. After reading Pllands comment about the drag I checked the drag on mine and there is no variance at any given setting that I can feel. Mind you – to evaluate drag fairly you have to make sure the line is on the reel does not affect your measurements. I took all the line off the spool except for the last few yards of backing.

All my correspondence with A.R.E. has been has been answered promptly, courteously and efficiently. I ordered a spare reel recently and received a wrong type. A replacement was sent right away without any hassle despite the mistake probably being mine.

I agree with the comment about lack of quality control. My reel had slight markings when I got it and I don’t doubt plland’s comments on the drag – only point out that MY reel does not have that problem.

I have a 4wt rod from A.R.E. that I enjoy using but isn’t anything special. It get’s the job done. It does not compare to my Sage, TFO and Loop rods. Cost me about $50 and therefore comparing it to $200-400 rod’s isn’t really fair.

I also have a WF line from A.R.E. that is OK but nothing special. My first WF line was from a known major brand and I don’t think the A.R.E. line is any worse than that. I think selecting the “best� line is very individual based and what works for one person might not apply to another. I threw away my first major brand line because it didn’t work for me and I cast further and more precisely with my Scierra HMT line than I do with my A.R.E. line. For the price ($15) the lines are worth a try or fine for a beginner.

Based on my experience I have no qualms about ordering these reels from A.R.E. I would however make it clear to A.R.E. that I reserve the right to examine the reel thoroughly and return for a replacement if there is any fault in it and recommend they personally examine the reel they plan on sending me to save all the hassle.

Get what you pay for? Well – I got my reel and extra spool for about $70. With the line and rod the total was around $135. If I go to Cabela’s home page and look at the reels then I can see some major brands (and yes – some American brands) that are offering reels that look a LOT like the 101 or the other Chinese reels that are mentioned in this thread. The price is usually in the $100-120 range, with extra spools at around $50. Paying $70 for a reel and extra spool sure beats paying $150-170 for a Chinese reel and spool with American packaging.

This is a very amusing thread. The reality is the vast majority of items we purchase on a daily basis are manufactured over seas. China and the new China, Viet Nam, supply a tremendous amout of our goods. By sending the manufacturing process overseas CEO's produce great profits for their respective stock holders. In turn sometimes the consumer will get a better deal. And many American jobs are out sourced.
As far as the reel in question goes, I have used one on several occasions. I found that the build quality was good. However, I did not like the design and function of the drag. Also, the knurled knob holding the spool on would come loose.
When you can buy American!