The Chief is a return top produced by CLYW, first released in 2011. It was one of their most popular and best-selling return top models.
Description[]
The Chief is a return top that sets a new level of expectation on how great a professional-level metal model should play. Designed for advanced play with an extreme spin and a real cutting-edge look, every aspect is carefully thought out in order for it to play as great as possible.
Its most distinctive design element is an extra inner groove that is carefully machined to bring out the rim weight while focusing it much closer towards the center. At 56mm in diameter, the return top has a rounded, moderately-sized H-shape that feels right in the user's hand. It had proven effective for regeneration-type tricks, horizontal play, frontstyle play, practically everything, and could spin for a very long time with little to no vibration. The bumped response area allows the Chief's catch zone to make string hits a breeze.
Silicone Snow Tire response from CLYW is snappy and reliable for unresponsive play, with no unwanted snags no matter how much the user wraps the string around the bearing.
When the Chief was first released, it featured a flat C-bearing, which has since been replaced with a Center Trac bearing later on in its lifespan.
Coming in a wide variety of colorways over the years, the Chief is also packaged in a box that features artwork by Paul Escolar, as a part of CLYW's mission to combine high-performance return tops with amazing art.
Its shape was also used as the basis for the first version of the plastic Yeti.
Back in 2010, a prototype return top that was also named the Chief was produced. It featured a profile whose design elements appeared to have taken cues from the Canvas and the Avalanche models. However, this design was rejected and CLYW went back to the drawing board from there. [1]
In 2018, CLYW released the Pickaxe, a mid-sized version of the Chief.
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