i own a few baitcasters.. zillion, pflugers, curado's, revo's etc.. and i have also owned / used the black max , it honestly is not a bad real.. i used it on a old 6'6mh browning rod i had lying around and well it worked well with plastics and such for bass.. the settings on the reel arnt the greatest.. but they still do the job.. though i would not pay $80 for it , I have seen them around for 59, and thats about right , i'd say this would be a good starter reel,
as for all the cdn tire haters.. im with you .. but they try and stock average quality stuff as it wouldnt really be realistic for them to cary top end gear that very few people are going to be interested in.. though there are some exceptions with that .. like lindsay canadian tire carries more high end gear then alot of tackle stores would like carrot sticks , curado's , original calais, crucials etc.. as well cdn tire will compete with competitors pricing ..