I test casted the rod Bill S. is talking about with the micros on top and i was amazed at how far i was casting the small weight on the end, I will setup and test cast a rod with micros on top and spiraled to see casting distance between the two builds.

Mike Pederson’s coment
“Soon as I saw them they made sense”
Although short may be one of the most profound statements on the subject.

Even if there was no improvement on line control, no advantage in casting distance, like wise flipping and pitching, no balance improvement, didn’t lighten the tip section, didn’t give an edge on what custom builders can do over store bought rods,

It just makes sense not to put more weight or larger components on a rod then is needed to do the task it is being built for.

I've got about 10 micro rods with customers and all have been very happy. All have been shocked how well they cast because I'm sure they expected the smaller guides to not cast as far. If it's my choice, I'll build only micro rods, but some customers are slow to accept change. I try to put a rod in their hand and that's usually all it takes, especially after they've cast it.

I'm building with the Batson micros, a df 6, 5, 4.5, 3.5s to a 4 tip. No problems reported so far. All mine have been casting rods and spiral wrapped, though I'll build one this week with all micros on top.