Back in November of 2011 I reviewed the Burnside, the yo-yo that was suppose to be Clint Armstrong’s signature yo-yo. Alas that never happened. Clint left the One Drop team on good terms when he went to college, which left the company with a great signature yo-yo design and no player. Instead of scraping it, One Drop released it under its current name without a team member attached. It is no secret that I absolutely love the Burnside. It is one of my hands down favorite yo-yos, one that I always go back to when I am between reviews. It is a rather inexpensive yo-yo (retail price of $85) that is just perfect in every way… at least when it comes to what I look for in a yo-yo. That last part is key, every player is different. Now you can imagine then that I was absolutely DROOLING when One Drop announced One Drop team member Igor Korzhev’s signature yo-yo, the Chik, which borrows its name from Igor’s nickname. Korzhev based his new signature model on the design of my beloved Burnside but added a few enhancements. When I heard this I was both happy and worried at the same time. I knew one of the enhancements would be the addition of Side Effects, a feature that automatically ups the cost of the yo-yo. As I said, one of the reasons I like the Burnside is that the price makes it an easy recommendation for anyone that is interested in a high performance, low cost yo-yo. For this review I plan on answering the following two questions:
Do the changes to the Burnside design enhance the play?
Do the changes justify the increased price that comes with them?
I will be picking up one of these for sure when I get some extra yoyo money lying around. I love everything about the Burnside so I KNOW that this will be a good fit for me. Thanks for the good review as usual.
For me it’s all about efficiency. I’m getting a DS Pride for sure, so I’m much better off in terms of shipping waiting for the Pride to come out so I can buy both at the same time.
Would it be worth the money to buy a Chik if I already have a Burnside…?
The fact that it’s a little lighter, and can be lightened even further, appeals to me quite a bit, but I can’t see dishing out 100 bucks (splash edition) for something so similar to what I already have.
Yes it is worth it. As I said in the review, the Burnside has been not just one of my favorite One Drop yo-yos but one of my all time favorites in general. Everyone has, or will have that one yo-yo that just speaks to them. The Burnside was mine… until the Chik came out. I could easily sell off my Burnside and not miss it because the Chik gives the feel I loved with the Burnside while adding so much more.
Two completely different beasts. Both are great players and I do play my Summit on a regular basis but the Chik is just that yo-yo that speaks to me, similar to how I felt about the Burnside.
I can’t wait for a GZR one(hopefully they come to fruition). I love the GZR line, its like buying a high end japanese throw without the price tag in my opinion. Precision machined 7075 with side effects is a dream come true!
You can’t go wrong with either one. It all depends on how much you want to spend. The Summit will set you back $115 (solid color) and the Chik will set you back $88 (also solid color). Both will give you excellent play. The only deciding factor might be thumb grinds. If you are a thumb grind player the Chik has an IGR and the Summit does not.
Wow, I received my Chik the other day and I gotta say it is my favorite One Drop (besides the Summit). They nailed it with this one. It definitely deserves more hype.
I bought one of these as well and was very pleasantly surprised with how well it plays ! One of the best One Drop has turned out as of recent. I would also include the Rally as well.
I recommend it highly.
Edit: I recently swapped out the Side Effects that were stock in place of Brass Domes which added a bit of weight. This was a major improvement for my preferences.
