The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I think SeanM is a fan. I'm sure he will answer any questions you have about them. For a starter traditional pin you cannot beat a rapidex if ypu ask me.

FabianFred wrote:are they any good... not at this price though..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390868724654? ... fresh=true

that's about £70 overpriced ,I don't care its its in mint condition its not a piece of art ,was never ment to be ,its just a merlin a good unpretentious reel .I must say I like the too (owned a couple) I'd hate to see them go the way of the speedia and become over priced toys.

a good mordex merlin is a great trotting reel ,having a light spool ,not too bad a size ,good ratchet ,the only thing that really lets them down (depending on model) is the tri lobe handles and the rubbish plastic centre boss .

The Rapidex centre boss, also used on a number of other Youngs reels, can break in clumsy hands, yes....but they are well made and firm.

The Mordex ones, on the other hand, are flexible and distort, thus changing the end-float clearance depending on how tight the three screws are.

Later Mordex reels also have plastic anti-reverse levers and pawls ....which break.


A real happeny's worth of tar scenario, as the rest of the reels, although consequently quite heavy, are sturdy and well-made.

Gary Mills does supply the centre boss for the Trudex and Rapidex, not sure if he supplies the earlier flat types though.......

Yup I am a fan, although I prefer its brother, the Major. They are essentially the same back plate with different drums. I just happen to think that the Grice and Young-esque Major looks better than the Aerial-esque Merlin.

Both are tough no nonsense reels that are perfect for the heavier sort of bottom fishing. Not delicate trotters by any stretch of the imagination.

BarryK did some aluminium centre bosses, for me.

I think that might well be a Major cuddling up to the carp in my avatar.

Looks like Steve and I disagree on their efficacy as trotting reels (he does tend to use old mooring buoys instead of float though )
They do Wallis cast well though.

Mordex reels for me are, well, OK I suppose. I have a Mentor which I use occasionally. This one on Ebay was, I think, being offered at nearly twice that a while back. I wouldn't pay more than about £25-30 on EBay for one in vgc and less for others. I bought a Merlin some time ago from what seemed to be a reputable online dealer in vintage tackle for rather more than that, on the basis of an 'as new' description, but it was unusable. The spring for the spool release lever had been replaced with a piece of relatively large gauge paperclip with the result that the float screw had to be so far out that it was close to dropping out because the plastic cap had to be even looser than usual because of the bulk of the clip wire. There was also virtually no play in the release lever and the spool was close to coming off the pin all the time. It went back. I haven't checked to see if the dealer in question re-listed it but I'd advise even more caution than usual when buying a Mordex on line.

Mordex seemed to specialise in 'budget' versions of just about everything especially rods and reels, nothing wrong with that, there's many a company prospered that way (e.g. K.P. Morritt), but they tended to let themselves down on the details: the plastic cap, the thin easily bent or broken release lever etc. It wouldn't have cost much more to have had more robust fittings but I suspect misguided penny pinching was the cause. Another problem with all Mordex pins is not just that the cap is plastic but one of the fixing screws for it holds the release lever in place, again misguided corner cutting.

I have a vague memory that Mordex actually started out making non-angling stuff and only switched into it later. Interestingly, even though it was a local company and was in business for (I think) more than 30 years (50s to 80s), Mordex appears to have left very little impression locally in Sheffield. People around fishing here then I've talked to, even the ones who remember Cliff Adcock selling his reels in pubs and clubs (Harry Reynolds is just too long ago) blank on detail on Mordex, and unusually there appears to be virtually nothing around in the way of paper records, catalogues, advertising or other stuff posted on the web. I haven't even been able to find exactly where in Sheffield they were although I haven't looked very hard. There were hard times for lots of people and companies in Sheffield in the early to mid 80s and many things have just disappeared even from memory unless prompted by e.g. a photograph. Maybe it's because Mordex never arouses strong emotions, positive or negative, and that's the usual fate of things and people like that. I realise I'm posting this in exactly the right forum to draw correction on that assertion. Maybe there should be a Campaign for the Remembrance of the Mediocre. The slogan would be "It's good to be, well, OK, I suppose. Although I'd prefer you not to quote me on that"

PS I've just done an EBay search on 'mordex' and it's thrown up some very iffy looking stuff (as well as some rather frightening leezhoorwear). A 'mint' Merlin that looks repainted and has a different badge to usual, a Major in a terrible state and described as a fly reel and others, all hopelessly over-priced.

Beware of 'original boxes', there have been fake Mitchell ones around for years.