Disclaimer: I *do not* use the cinch for lead belaying. i know that most people do. i use the cinch for toproping, work positioning, solo top roping, jugging, hauling systems, etc. that said: i think the cinch is incredible. the rope path is so straight that the cinch feeds rope like no other. it self feeds on solo toprope, locks off securely, and is small enough to consider bringing on multipitch to belay a high-maintenance second. i love this device. it replaces may different devices in my toolbox. rumor has it the Ti version will hit the market sometime soon. if you could afford it, it would become a solid multipitch/alpine do-everything device. man, i love this thing. about the rappelling/lowering issues: i dont like rappelling or lowering with it, but then i dont enjoy the grigri either. trango recommends redirecting the brake rope through a leg loop biner, which helps. however, now accustomed to the feed and the lower lever, i feel comfortable with it. but.. remember what i use it for. not too much rapping with this device. one note: the rolled pin featured in the picture on this site was pre-production, i believe. all cinches sold have a solid pin (ie: will wear out in years, not weeks)

one further note: after reading the reviews below, i notice that a number of the so-called 'cons' cited by cinch owners are actually symptoms of not knowing how to use it well.

great belay device for the toolbox. i take the gigi when multipitching with ropes that aren't brand spankin' new (frictionless). i find the autoblock function much smoother (no sweating bullets just trying to work the rope through a reverso/b52) than the normal autoblock tubes devices. its worth the extra ounce or two. no more elbow tendinitis from belaying seconds! also a great device for two seconds at the same time. im not much of a fan for using it to belay leader or rappel, but whatever. i'd got other bits and pieces for that.

not the highest performance shoe i own, but for what i use it for, a perfect 5. my shoe of choice for long routes- comfy, doesnt bite into my foot anywhere, and the velcro lets me pop them off without an epic (for the occasional break at ledges along the way). as always, am a big big fan of evolv quality, rubber, customer service, resoling, materials, etc etc

agree on customer support and quality. a few posters mention they dont like the rubber, so one note: evolve/YB used to use a different mix a year or so ago which was obviously less sticky. they've resoled a pair of kaos shoes with the newer rubber and now they're my favorite. no more griping about bad smearing. a new pair of shoes for 20 bucks.

I liked 'em so much I replaced my entire rack with them... Besides the obvious pros that have been pointed out by the other folks, this biner has about as strong a gate spring tension as I've used in biners. I like this because it makes it that much less likely that ropes, bolts, gear can escape, harder to vibrate open in a fall, yada yada. I also like that they are larger than other small biners. In practise, they are significantly larger than neutrinos and bigger still relative to nanowires (or whatever Camp calls their ultralight). I wouldn't be caught climbing ice with a neutrino, but I could do it with a superfly. The biner is just big enough to handle with gloves. I believe their only competitor is the WC helium. Buy the heliums if you can handle a few extra grams and a non-catchy nose means a lot to you. Buy the superfly to pay a lot less for a lighter biner.