I don't have the experience of a lot of the other people here, but I decided to go for the clip less mostly for fitness to workout a lesser used set of leg muscles, plus the extra efficiency. I was quite worried I'd be going down on the trails with my bike, but the extra control I had from being clipped in kept me much safer. Much easier taking turns, bumps, and to bunny hop obstacles and still be connected. I also dialed down the tension on the clips to minimum so clipping out was as easy as possible. I've never yet clipped out when I didn't intend to and have had one close call where I managed to clip out and get my foot on the ground as I was on the way down. Yeah it takes some getting used to and some practice clipping out, but seemed worth it to me. Definitely to each their own though.