Mountain Biking - Cleats or Flats?

Hay Y'all

After my little misadventure on the weekend in cleats ( id been wearing them for a bit but after the few offs i had on the weekend they are about to get a holiday) i decided to go back to using flat pedals for a little while. it just seems that i dot have the confidence to tackle technical riding , dropoff and jumps without the added insurance of being able to bail in a hurry if i need to, or even put the reassuring foot down. is there anyone else that feels the same? or am i just a big wuus!!??

on a side note, is there anyone who races in flats and not cleats?

Flats for me.

I was about to respond...but I don't race...

but always flats.

it takes a little getting used to, but eventually clipless feels much more reassuring. you have to get good quality though, like eggbeaters or time. after awhile clipless will make you feel much more secure.

Clipless on road, flats off.

ah well, at least i dont feel so bad now :D and yes, on my roadie i think theres no substitute for clipless :D

Clipless for road, flats for most riding, clipless if I know I'm doing a long XC ride.

L8R

Clipless both on the road and trails. Cant stand my feet flying off while riding rough or technical trails.

I feel alot more secure on my clipless pedals but i dont clip in right away. So i have a hard time getting my balance when i get back on my bike (for what ever reason) on a steep decenst. Once im clipped in im fine but when i jump on my seat i start rolling down and my feet are not secured and i dont feel comfortable/stable. Especially since my shoe has a hard bottom and slips easily off the pedal if not cliped in. ( i have shimano 505 pedals and specialized shoes)
To fix this problem "hopefully" im going to order the crankbrothers mallet c pedals, so i have a platform to quickly step on when on a steep decent then clip in when i get the chance.

WEll I'm going to get flats but I don't know if they're good. They don't have a name (well at least I didn't see the name). Why aren't the studded ones good? WEll at least why don't many people use them?

assuming that you are talkin about the pedals i think you are, the studs come up nasty if you slip off your pedals and they hit your skin. my riding partnet got a few good sized cuts and lots of blood when he slipped off his the other day. then again, i used to use beartraps when i rode BMX, now they do some damage!

Shin gaurds...I wear them even on xc rides now :)

I don't even wear shin pads 95% of the time and I have flats with studs and have only had one pedal slippage in the past 5 years.

Yeah I still suck :D...every time I go without shin pads I crack my shins. So bad the last time I got 13 stiches...took 3 months to heal and 2 fights with infection...good times :D