I don't have a Stradic, but I can tell you that reels do follow the "you get what you pay for" quote. Cheap reels do the job, but expensive ones generally have more bearings and better quality materials. Whether or not it's worth it is up to you. About the maintenance, I do yearly preventitive maintenance on all of my reels right about the time the lake thaws out each spring. I take them down, clean them up and reoil them every year

I have about a dozen Stradics of various sizes from various generations and I still use mine that are well over 10 years old. They are old enough that I don't remember when I bought them back when they were around $100. I'm lazy when it comes to doing annual maintenance, so maybe every other year or three or four years lapse. The maintenaince port really helps me be even more lazy since I can just add a few drops of oil annually. The Stradic is the first great line management spinning reel I've used that I don't have to constantly take time to take out the line twists. That in itself is worth it for me. I'm always amazed at how low of a bearing count the reel has, but how reliably smooth they have been for me. I fish a lot in down pour and subfreezing temps and the reels hold up well.

I have since bought a stradic and I am very very happy with it. Im glad I spent the money on a quality reel