Short answer. The Lew's Speed Spool LFS is a 10-bearing casting reel on a one-piece aluminum frame with a 34 mm spool and a 15 lb Rulon drag, built in four gear ratios from 5.6:1 to 8.3:1. Buy it if you want an aluminum frame and a 120-yard mono capacity in the bracket Lew's lists today (US$119.99 on the shop page, read 2026-10-17), and 7.1 oz on a seven-foot rod does not bother you. Skip it if you need a reel under six ounces or a 300-size spool, because nothing in its printed table gets you there.
LFS is Lew's own wording, not a retailer's shorthand. Lew's 2019 ICAST release describes "the highly popular Speed Spool LFS baitcast reel" and lists the parts that define it: a one-piece aluminum frame, a 34 mm spool, an externally adjustable Magnetic Control System, a bowed 95 mm handle with SoftTouch paddle knobs, a 10-bearing system, and a P2 Super Pinion bearing-supported pinion gear.
Behind the badge sits one model-code family. The code starts SS1, then S, H, SH or XH for the gear ratio, then L for left-hand retrieve, then a suffix. Lew's prints two versions of that suffix: the Speed Spool Series manual uses A (SS1SA, SS1HA, SS1HLA, SS1SHA, SS1SHLA, SS1XHA, SS1XHLA), while the Gen 3 parts sheets and the shop today use G3 (SS1SG3, SS1HG3, SS1HLG3, SS1SHG3, SS1SHLG3, SS1XHG3, SS1XHLG3). This site reads the trailing letters as the generation marker, because every character before them is the same; Lew's does not print the word "generation" next to either code.
There is a naming gap worth knowing before you shop. The product page Lew's runs today is titled Speed Spool 200 Baitcast Reel, it sells the SS1…G3 codes above, and the letters LFS appear nowhere on it. Its description repeats the LFS feature list from the 2019 release almost word for word, plus an external lube port. So a search for the LFS lands on a page that is selling the same reel under a name that no longer carries the badge, and the page will not tell you that. That is why the specs below are pulled from the manual rather than from the shop listing.
This is the REEL SPECIFICATIONS table from page 1 of Lew's Speed Spool Series manual, reproduced column for column. Nothing here is estimated and no column has been added.
| Model | Weight | Gear ratio | Recovery per turn | Max drag | Mono capacity | Braid capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS1SA | 7.2 oz | 5.6:1 | 23 in | 15 lb | 140/12 | 140/50 |
| SS1HA | 7.1 oz | 6.8:1 | 28 in | 15 lb | 120/12 | 120/50 |
| SS1HLA | 7.1 oz | 6.8:1 | 28 in | 15 lb | 120/12 | 120/50 |
| SS1SHA | 7.1 oz | 7.5:1 | 31 in | 15 lb | 120/12 | 120/50 |
| SS1SHLA | 7.1 oz | 7.5:1 | 31 in | 15 lb | 120/12 | 120/50 |
| SS1XHA | 7.1 oz | 8.3:1 | 35 in | 15 lb | 120/12 | 120/50 |
| SS1XHLA | 7.1 oz | 8.3:1 | 35 in | 15 lb | 120/12 | 120/50 |
Source: SS1SA_SpeedSpool_Manual.pdf, page 1, published under "Speed Spool Series" in Lew's Manuals & Schematics (lews.zendesk.com help-centre article 20182662254743), read 2026-10-17. The same page carries a metric block printing 204 g for SS1SA and 201 g for the other six, which matches the 7.2 oz and 7.1 oz in the imperial block, so the two blocks agree with each other.
The rest of the reel, as printed in the same manual's feature list: 10 bearings with stainless double-shielded ball bearings, Zero Reverse one-way clutch, one-piece aluminum frame with graphite sideplates, externally adjustable Magnetic Control System, Speed Lube, zirconia line guide, Rulon drag, solid brass Speed Gears cut on Hamai CNC machines with a P2 Super Pinion, a 95 mm bowed anodized aluminum handle with SoftTouch paddle knobs, and an anodized aluminum 34 mm spool — the SS1SA being the high-capacity spool of the group.
The capacity column is the one that decides most purchases, and it is tighter than the price suggests. Every ratio except the 5.6:1 carries 120 yards of 12 lb mono or 120 yards of 50 lb braid. That is a normal bass load and a thin margin for anything that pulls drag on a long run. If you fish 65 lb braid, or you want a spare 20 yards of backing, the SS1SA is the only build in the table with more room: 140/12 and 140/50.
Weight is flat at 7.1 oz across six of the seven models, with the high-capacity SS1SA at 7.2 oz. Nothing in the table is a light reel by current standards, and the aluminum frame is the reason. You are buying frame rigidity and a 15 lb drag, not a sub-six-ounce number.
Drag is 15 lb on every model, from the Rulon system, so the ratio you choose does not change how much stopping power you get. Recovery per turn is where the ratios separate: 23, 28, 31 and 35 inches, one figure per ratio.
Retailers list the lews lfs by ratio rather than by generation, which makes the choice look wider than it is. There are four builds, each in right and left hand except the 5.6:1, which the manual prints only as SS1SA.
One practical note: the left-hand codes carry an L after the ratio letters, so SS1HLA is the left-hand 6.8:1 and SS1SHA is the right-hand 7.5:1. Read the code rather than the product photo, because the two hands are the same body and the same weight.
Lew's publishes two Gen 3 parts sheets, one for the 6.8:1 (SS1HG3) and one for the 7.5:1 (SS1SHG3). Both are single-page PDFs with a text layer, so they can be read and compared line by line rather than by eye. This site compared them on 2026-10-17.
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Key numbers present in both sheets | 93 of 93 |
| Key numbers with an identical part name | 93 of 93 |
| Key numbers with an identical order ID | 89 of 93 |
| Parts-table region, pixel difference at 300 dpi | 0.0246% of the page |
The four order IDs that differ are the parts that change with gear ratio: pinion gear (key 40), drive gear (key 44), gear side plate (key 51) and star drag (key 73). Everything else, including the frame, spool, drag stack, handle and sideplates, carries the same order number across the two ratios.
The verdict is that the 6.8:1 and the 7.5:1 are one reel with a gear set swapped, so a spare part for one fits the other apart from those four numbers. This comparison is ours, made from Lew's published exploded-view parts sheets; it is not a statement Lew's makes. One limit worth stating: the A-generation manual prints a parts list of names but no order-ID column that extracts as text, so the link between the A generation and Gen 3 rests on the feature list and the identical ratio ladder (5.6, 6.8, 7.5 and 8.3 in both), not on a parts count.
For the Gen 3 codes that the shop sells today, Lew's does not print a weight or a line capacity anywhere. Three places were checked on 2026-10-17:
So treat the weight and capacity in the table above as A-generation figures printed in the manual, not as Gen 3 figures. They are the closest published numbers for this reel, and they are labelled as such rather than carried across silently.
The Speed Spool LFS is the baseline of the Lew's casting range, not the top of it. Above it sits the Tournament Pro, which adds a lighter frame and more bearings for the angler who fishes often; below it sits the Mach, which keeps the same low-profile shape at a lower price. The line-by-line comparison of the Speed Spool, Tournament Pro and Mach covers how those tiers differ without repeating the numbers here.
Whatever ratio you pick, the capacity number only means something once you have matched line to the rod's lure rating. The line weight chart runs that chain from lure weight to line size to the yards a spool will hold.