I've gone both ways but now use platforms on my mountian bike. I don't race and wouldn't consider myself to be a particularly aggressive rider. I just found that getting stuck in the clips while going over a slow section and not being able to dab a foot sucked. I got tired of those "fall over while almost stopped" falls. It was starting to take the fun out of single track for me.

Going back to platforms has allowed me to ride through some of the more techinical sections with confidence. The ultimate goals for the recreational rider should be to have fun and be safe. There can be no doubt that clipless is the way to go for maximum performance but compromises might have to be made if you aren't a maximum performance rider. Al