Advice on carp rod please

HI everyone i have not been carp fishing for years as i have been in Canada, now i am back money is a little tight and was wondering what people thought of the Daiwa black widow 2.75lb carp rod ????? or for the same price range what other rod would you suggest ?

One more question is i used to own Shimano 8000GTE baitrunners, what is your opinions of the new Shimano st 1000RA reels? are the worth a purchase.

Thanks

hi m8 and wecome back..im always a little cautious of budget rods,as the test curve will be lost quite quickly if they are abused! i guess the rods will be ok for short to medium range but going beyond that constantly,you will end up with a t,c a lot smaller than the original 2.75//i always go for the heaviest test curve available in the particular blank i want,as this will last you longer,and give you more scope..as you may want to use pva bags or a method feeder,and cast say 70-80 yrds. you would find this hard to do with a 2.75 tc.if they do a bigger tc in this rod go for that is my opinion,, as for the reel i couldnt say? as ive not used baitrunners for years, but shimanos are the best reels when it comes to baitrunners so i guess they would be fine..