Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Yes, clipless boots are expensive but how long are they going to last you? I paid around $250 for my Lake MZ303 four years ago. So far they have cost me $63/year. They don't seem to be showing any wear and I expect that they will last at least another 6 years...I've have other shoes that I used for winter riding that are closer to 20 years old. At 10 years, they will have cost me $25/year and they are far superior to regular bike shoes and shoe covers.
My previous pair of boots cost me something like $40 and lasted me 23 years. My current pair cost another $40. Hopefully I'll get 23 years out of them too. I'm pretty cheap. I don't have much in the way of cycling specific clothing of any kind. My $50 pair of Nashbar clipless shoes are about as fancy as I've ever gotten. I joke with my friends that I don't buy any clothing that isn't sold in packs of five. I realize not everyone is like me, and I have no problem with people who choose to spend their money on things they use and enjoy.
A few years ago my brother and I went to a concert. He decided he wanted to buy a t-shirt from the event and offered to buy me one too. I responded that while I appreciated the gesture, there's no way I could ever enjoy a $40 t-shirt even if I wasn't the one who paid for it. Every time I'd wear it I would think about how much he overpaid for the shirt, which would wreck it for me. I'm just wired a little different I guess.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Personally, I've never found a point where I needed to get my foot down any faster in winter than during mountain biking. Falling over into a snowbank is a lot less hazardous than falling onto a pile of rocks. There's really no difference in injury to my dignity either but one gives you scraps, bruises and blood while the other just gets you cold. Either way, I often find my foot unclipped and on the ground without my even thinking about it.
I have found that being clipped in makes me more likely to stay upright when I would have bailed on a flat pedal. The ability to pull up helps to power through soft snowpack as well rather than have to bail.
I will agree about toe straps, however. I wouldn't use them for love nor money for winter, summer, road or off-road riding. I've used them in the past but modern clipless pedals are much better.
I'm not a mountain biker so I don't have any experience in that regard. However from the way you describe it I probably wouldn't feel comfortable wearing clipless in that situation either. I realize a lot of people do, and that's fine if it works for them. When I do ride clipless I can unclip pretty fast, but nowhere near as fast as I would like for winter riding. I guess I just have slow reflexes or something.