My experience as a non competitive solo rider is that clips (I continue to refuse to call something you clip into clipless ) are not faster than platforms but over a long hilly ride the clips give you improved efficiency (that's what I'll call it). I found when I switched (only 1 year ago) that I was less tired at the end of the same ride with the clips that without. I still find that unclipping can be a little disconcerning under certain conditions where platforms never are and I still use platforms for commuting as a result (lots more stops and starts). But for the long rides I have clips now