im looking to expand/replace my arsenal with better rod/reel combos, but wanted to know what sort of weight/speed are best for certain lure types for bass.

so, if you were to have only 5 combos, what Speed (I.E Fast, Moderate fast ETC), weight (Heavy, medium ETC) and gear ratio would you have? what do the combos work best for? thanks in advance!

I use Dobyns rods. Here are five rods in the Fury line that I would recommend to the new angler. I use Curados but my partner has a Lews Laser MG that would pair great with a Fury.

Tx Rig (Secondary as Spinnerbait/Chatterbait) - FR 704C - 7 Gear Reel
Crankbait - FR 705CB - 6 Gear reel
Weightless Plastics, Topwater - FR 733c - 7 Gear Reel
Finesse Spinning Rod - FR 702sf - 6 Gear Reel (Not much experience with spinning reels so really can't recommend a specific reel)
Frogs, Jigs - FR 735c - 7 Gear Reel

This is the lineup (Minus the spinning rod) that I used for a while until I upgraded to Champion XP's. Hope this helped.

I agree with this. These 5 rods are the best way to cover nearly everything in my opinion. I throw my jerkbaits and topwaters on a 6'10 medium though, it's easier for me to twitch without hitting the ground and water.