Rode clipped into SPD’s for 25+ and actually had no complaints but after a rather strenuous hike-a-bike day on Mt Elwell above Downieville, I swore that I was going to try flats “so that I could try some of those comfy looking 5.10 shoes”. Well, I bought some 5.10 Hellcats that could do SPD’s or flats and bounciest ed back and forth for a few months. Then I was on a ride in Hurricane, Utah (Little Creek Mesa) and we were sessioning some features. I was going up one that was super steep and I was going to be one pedal stroke short and started to fall back but since I was wearing flats, I was able to push the bike away and jump back/down 6-8 feet and land flat footed. That was my epiphany and I’ve been on flats since that day.
I know everyone, including me, always says they have no problem getting unclipped when they need to but anybody that’s been riding clipped in for long knows there’s times when it just doesn’t happen for some reason…no matter how rare it is, it happens. Well, just this weekend on Grafton Mesa in Hurricane, my buddy was riding clipped in on his Crank Brothers and didn’t make a steep feature (like my example above) and started to fall back. He got his right foot out but there was nowhere to put his foot and he couldn’t get his left foot out so he slammed down on to his left side and elbow. He was able to ride but I honestly believe he would have been unhurt if he was on legit flats.