CLYW Cliff
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
May 26, 2013

Introduction

The Cliff is Czech Republic native, Petr Kavka’s signature yo-yo. It started off as a collaborative effort between him and Chris M. during a conversation while both were attending the World Yo-Yo Contest in Orlando, FL and has since gone on to gets some crazy good press. Since my break from reviewing CLYW products I have watched quite a few models come out basically everything from the Chief on forward. All of them looked amazing but for one reason or another I could not seem to get my hands on one, mostly due to popularity and the fact that when I had money they were nowhere to be had at a decent retail price. Of all the designs I have watched come out the one that really just stuck with me was the Cliff. It was just the one that I said if I could only review a single CLYW this year this would be it. The design was large and bizarre and intimating and in your face… too many “ands” just caught my eye. In a hobby where everyone says that this shape mimics that shape and this yoyo looks like a riff off of that yoyo I tend to gravitate towards the strange, something the Cliff has that in spades. Sometimes the strange comes back to bite me, other times it is a tremendous hit. Lets see which one the Cliff is.

Specs

• Diameter: 59.5mm
• Width: 44.8mm
• Weight: 67.9 grams
• Bearing: C-Size Center Trac Bearing
• Response: White Snow Tires

Construction

The Cliff is just bonkers in in the looks department. It is this extreme H-Shape, double lip, undercut, hulking beast of a yo-yo. The profile shows off the massive swooping rims that jut stop at a steep drop off into the catch zone. There is an undercut just under the rims leaving absolutely nothing to touch the string as it falls into the gap. The cup uses the double lip design that CLYW introduced in the Chief, complete with a lack of IGR. The floor of the cup is ever so lightly curved up giving off a look of being completely flat in appearance. There is no hub in the middle of the cup to break up the look. When it comes to the finish, the Cliff continues on with using Gruntbull’s grind friendly blast finish that gives a slightly matte look to the yo-yo. The comfort of the Cliff is going to be a sticking point with many players out there. It is a large diameter throw that will feel cumbersome in small hands while the catch zone design rubs against the sides of fingers on those with larger, fatter fingers. Personally I didn’t have a problem with the large diameter but then again I have large hands. The undercut catch zone was a little trickier but after adjusting where on my finger I caught the yo-yo during a finger grind it became a nonissue. Overall the design is absolutely nuts and unlike anything on the market today… I love it.

Weight

At almost 68 grams, it seems as though this should feel heavy on the string but with such a large frame and some extremely smart weight placement, the Cliff plays at multiple speeds with ease. It can hang with the faster tech crowd while also being at ease with the flowing styles of the more artistic player. The Cliff is surprisingly nimble on the string and I felt had some float to it.

Response and Bearing

I was introduced to the CLYW Snow Tire response pad when I did the Summit review and I must say I am a huge fan of how they play. I am still deciding if I like the blue or the white pads better. The Cliff comes stock with white snow tires, which give nice tight binds. I didn’t have any problems with slipped binds or weak throws even with the thin string I use in all of my reviews.

The bearing is the only true weak spot for me. I am not a fan of the Center Trac bearing. They feel cheap and gritty during play while also being way too loud for my tastes. Some have said just lube it to quiet it down. The problem is that I have tried and they end up playing super responsive. I swapped the stock bearing with a flat bearing, trying both a One Drop 10-Ball and a General-Yo AIGR bearing and found the play to be vastly improved with both choices. The yo-yo just felt smoother and the string didn’t bunch up in unnatural ways during multiple string wraps.

Playability

I may have mentioned some of the comfort issues and my displeasure with the Center Trac bearing but I must say the play is incredible. After swapping the bearing for my preferred choice I was greeted with absolutely amazing play and a wholly unique feel. I have never played a yo-yo like this before. I have found larger yo-yos have a bit more kick back that can actually come back and bite you in the shin during a front style throw. The Cliff exhibits none of this and has no more kickback than my medium size Avalanche. Where this yo-yo shines is during whip and suicide based tricks. The total lack of a side wall keeps all loops wide open and the cavernous catch zone makes it hard to miss during Brent Stoles and Jade Whips. Grinds are another strength for the Cliff although I did have to make adjustments for a couple of them. I had to catch finger grinds closer to my first knuckle, anything past that caused the yo-yo to catch on my middle knuckle and shoot off. Thumb grinds required me to catch the yo-yo at a slight angle. Once I made those adjustments I was grinding the Cliff with ease. Arm and palm grinds were a complete nonissue for me.

Final Thoughts

Overall it sounds like I have quite a few issues with the Cliff and therefore one could assume that I do not like it. You would be dead wrong in that assumption. The issues I had were more quirks that stem from a crazy design. This is by no means your “classic” yo-yo and would floor Donald Duncan in how far yo-yo design has come. With the exception of the bearing, I love everything about the Cliff, from its fresh feel on the string to the bold and striking looks. It is easily tied with my Avalanche as my favorite yo-yo to come out of CLYW’s shop.