For road biking, it's clipless or your a poor Fred. For MTBs, it's not the same. It's more like a saddle, whatever you prefer. I went clipless, then went back to flats and regretted it almost immediately when my feet flew off the pedals. I compromised by buying the flat on one side, clipless on the other pedals. Now I've got both on the fly. If I need to go flat, I unclip, spin and put the foot down on the flat. It's not perfect, but I'm sticking with it. Still, I see a lot of really good MTB'rs going with plain old flats wearing sneakers. Whatever you prefer. But I would try both before deciding.