One Drop Chik!: A High Speed YoYo Review

Two reviews in one week, I must be going a little mental.

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:

  1. Do the changes to the Burnside design enhance the play?
  2. Do the changes justify the increased price that comes with them?

Click to continue reading.

1 Like

Great. Now I want a Chik. :wink:

I don’t see a problem with this. ;D

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.

Same here. ONly problem is im trying my hardest to save it all for worlds, but this is giving a reason to scrap that plan.

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. :wink:

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.

Same Animal, Different Species. Get one.

Random question. How do you think it compares to the summit?

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!

Sounds great but I had made up my mind that I was going to get a summit but now you got me thinking. Darn it buying yo-yos is never easy.

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 completely agree !! :wink:

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.