I have the Spirex and a couple of Solstaces. All of them are the rear drag.
Front drag is probably built better (been around longer?), but I have
enjoyed the rear drag. My Spirex is a 4000 which is what I use for salmon
fishing. It has never been a problem and it was easy to adjust the drag
(mainly the fightin' drag) when landing a salmon. My fishing buddy has a
front drag. He tried to adjust the drag and his line snapped during his
first salmon run. I am sure that was operator error rather than an issue
with front drag.

Bottom line -- I think both work well. It is just personal preference.

Jeff

"Galen Zink" wrote in message
...
I am planning on buying a new Shimano Spirex to fish Flukes and Bass
Assassins. And I see that they come in either front drag or rear drag.

Whats the difference and what do you prefer?

Thanks guys!