Adcock Stanton or rapidex....

[Pallenpool]

If I were making the choice it would be a speedia - and if you can find one a wide drum - as this moving forward would be a versatile addition to your tackles. I find the rapidex (as others have mentioned) limiting if the need for a distance cast is required especially the Wallis as you are required to take the line of the drum at an angle (one version). Now you may not be able to Wallis cast and you may never have or want to - but the Speedia will allow more options going forward.

Next in line is the Trudex a super reel which nearly offers the same scope as the Speedia - I find casting with a line guard OK (but personally rarely use one) on the Trudex but if required one can take it off. If your only intending on purchasing one or two pins that are relatively affordable they would be my choice. If you are new to pins they all take a bit of time to get used to but once there I am sure you will really enjoy the benefits they bring.

[MaggotDrowner]

Most of my casting is done by pulling line off from around the rod rings in loops. I can get a few rod lengths out that way. If I want to get out further I get as much as I can in loops and allow a little line to dangle on the ground. I can easily get 30 feet doing this. I've rarely found the need to get out more than that and if I did I'd simply use my Hardy Altex fixed spool. I've never found the caged construction preventative of loop casting. I've made on attempt to wallis cast so I cannot comment on that.

[BoltonBullfinch]

Thanks for all the very helpful replies, there's much food for thought, but at least my new obsession with the Adcock Stanton has been reeled in a little. As far as I can see I'm left with the trudex and the rapidex, and for what it's worth I probably couldn't tell the difference in use.
I'm a loop from the rings sort of guy, so I will check out both and make a uneducated decision. Thanks once again for all your help.

Thanks
BB

[Vole]

I wouldn't want a 'pin that winds the line onto pillars/line-lays/posts or whatever you call them; a turned arbour for me, every time.
I wouldn't be keen on a reel that lacked either check or micro-drag, the former for ledgering, "parking" the rod to fish another, and moving swims; the latter for minimising over-runs when fishing still or slack water and for providing a steady drag when trotting a heavy flow.
So,it's Rapidex v. Trudex for me.
Now, the Rapidex is slightly older than the Trudex, I'm told, and was aimed at matchmen, in the days of ten-yard pegs, who needed a short cast and a rapid retrieve. The Trudex came out later, as a budget version, but doing away with the cage, and the groove in the drum which runs around it, made it stronger, simpler, cheaper and, in many respects, better.
I'd go for a Trudex first, and a Rapidex if I really couldn't cope without the cage.
In practice, I tend to keep light lines on Raps and heavies on Trudies.
Don't drop a Rapidex on that machined-out rim! If you're the tiniest bit clumsy, stick with the Trudex. Clean the bushing with a screw of kitchen roll, the pin with another bit of the same, after each trip, remembering to thumbnail it deep into the notch that receives the q/r latch, and give it a drop of sewing-machine oil,and it will improve with age.

[Mole-Patrol]

The Adcocks Stanton is a truly wonderful reel for trotting. But it demands 100% concentration and a perfected method of use to avoid over runs while doing every day tasks like putting the line through the rings, baiting up, etc. In most cases when I am still water fishing I am doing anything but concentrate on the reel. The AS is like a motorbike or car that you would use just for track days whereas the other two are more versatile.

With the Speedia I can comfortably cast a swim feeder or ledger 30 metres using what the American chappies call the swing cast. I wouldn't be able to manage that distance with the Trudex as it is set up on a shorter light ledger come float rod but it is more than capable of near 20 yard casts with a 1/2 oz Arlesey bomb or loaded zoomer. On both these reels the ratchet can be operated easily with one finger. This is very useful as the ratchet doubles as a combined bite alarm / bait runner. The wide drum Speedia is the most sought after by the barbel anglers. But if you are mostly still water fishing the narrow drum version will be fine.

[Reedling]

I don't know why but my speedia draws me like a magnet although it isn't always the best reel to use in certain situations, there is just something nice about using one, a reel for the soul.