One Drop X CLYW Seven Summits
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
December 21, 2014

Introduction

The original Summit was an absolutely amazing feat in the yo-yo world. For those of you that do not know the story, One Drop and CLYW met up in One Drop’s Oregon machine shop a week before heading out to the 2013 Cal. States contest. During that meet-up they had an idea; make a yo-yo (from CAD to ano and assembly) in three days that they could bring to the contest. Anyone that knows anything about yo-yo design knows that it can take weeks to come up with a CAD that you think is good enough to prototype so a three day complete build is, frankly, just nuts. Well, they did it and the Summit was a success. It has been a little over a year and a half since the original Summit was released and the big question from quite a few throwers has been, when are you going to drop a GZR version. Again, for those that are unaware, One Drop’s GZR line takes the original CAD and machine code for one of their yo-yos and runs it on denser 7075 aluminum alloy instead of the original 6061 aluminum alloy. This results in a yo-yo that is heavier, plays similar to the original but with a little extra punch during tricks. Today I am looking at the Seven Summits, the 7075 aluminum alloy version of the original Summit… which isn’t just simply called the GZR Summit. Time to find out why.

Specs

• Diameter: 55.64mm
• Width: 46mm
• Gap Width: 4.34mm
• Base Weight (two halves, response pad, bearing): 60.85 grams
• Weight with aluminum Ultra Light Side Effects: 63.35 grams
• Stock Response: CLYW Snow Tires
• Bearing Size: One Drop 10 Ball Bearing

Construction

Design wise, on first blush it looks absolutely identical to the original Summit but under closer inspection there are some changes. The profile for the Seven Summit is identical to the original using the modified Avalanche wing shape design implemented in the Summit. The design gives the yo-yo large rims with a defined cut denoting where the rims end and the catch zone beings. There is a step out near the response that kills any wall contact that may impede play. Moving to the cup, this is where the change happened. The step in rim has been redesigned with a deeper set step than the original Summit, which should have an effect on the weight and could negate the heft added from switching to 7075 aluminum alloy. I will discuss that more in the weight section. The blast is still One Drop’s Pyramatte tumble. It is a decent grind finish but does get sticky in certain situations. The colorways for the Seven Summits definitely need to be talked about here. There will be 350 Seven Summits released in total and will come out in 50 piece runs. Each run will be named after one of the Earth’s seven summits, hence the name, and feature a unique colorway along with the summit name laser etched on the step in the cup. The first run is the Kilimanjaro release featuring a black base that allows the gold and blue splash to vibrantly flash in contrast with the base. One Drop and CLYW are keeping the colorways for the other releases tightly under wraps so expect some crazy color combinations for the remaining six in the line; McKinley, Aconcagua, Elbrus, Vinson, Kosciuszko, and Everest.

Weight

The Seven Summits is using the denser 7075 aluminum alloy, which should translate into a heavier yo-yo, right? Wrong. In this case the Summit design was retooled with weight being removed and redistributed. The end result is that the Seven Summit is over 3 grams lighter than the original. This makes for a Summit that is quite a bit faster on the string while being stable and with just as much spin as the original.

Response and Bearing

This area has not changed from the original. The two companies still used One Drop’s quiet and reliable 10-Ball bearing while opting for CLYW’s grippier Snow Tires for the response. If you liked it in the original you will like them here as well.

Playability

When I first got the Seven Summit I was not expecting the speed increase that I was met with once I got it out of the box. I played the original for quite some time, even having it take a long tour as my classroom yo-yo at work, which says something since those are the yo-yos that get the most play out of me when I am not throwing for a review. I thought I had a good idea of how this new variant would perform and I was wrong. It is lighting quick on the string and reacts better to directional changes than the original. One thing I also was not expecting was the increased floatiness of the yo-yo while popping it up in the air. This is definitely a new Summit experience and one that cannot be categorized with the GZR mantra of similar play with more of a punch. Stability wise, this thing is great, it has no problems playing off plane during Gyro Flops and Banana Turnovers but stays where you want it during your vertical combos. If you are like me, not a speedy player, you may notice the Seven Summit being knocked off axis a little easier. I found that this was more a problem with me getting use to the speed of the yo-yo and hitting it during play while trying to keep up. The funny thing is, I never got frustrated while knocking it off kilter, I just wanted to see how fast I could push it. After a while, I got use to the speed and now prefer this model to the original Summit.

Final Thoughts

I liked the original and I was one that vehemently stated it did not need a GZR run. Thankfully it never got one. This is pretty much the Summit 2 with a fancy name. I think it plays better than the original in pretty much everyway… and that is the part that is killing me. This is a limited release, 350 yo-yos and then retired for good. Personally, I think this is a yo-yo that needs a long lifespan, maybe some solid color or nickel releases after the initial run but I don’t see that happening. The best advice I can give you, if you like the original Summit or wanted a quicker Summit, make sure you are in line for this one. As of this writing the Kilimanjaro colorway appears to be sold out so that gives you six more releases to get your hands on one.