Yeah, the older shimano reels do feel a bit shall we say "clunky"compared to todays reels. I for one still enjoy fishing with the older (vintage?) reels. I'm currently planning on fishing a Bantam mag 10Xsg on a 9.5 med. drift rod for hac. steelhead and the lack of the superstopper and the thumbar take some getting used to. I also fish 3 curado's one is the "super free" on some other set-ups. I like to hold the rod/reel in my left hand with my thumb resting on the spool and cross-bar , so if I get that mag plus 250sg it looks like the direct-drive switch will be far enough away I won't be switching it on/off by accident. Anyone who likes to fish the older gear feel free to speak-up, I've noticed alot of the reels I look at on ebay are sold to NW buyers so I'm not the only one......