haven't used the clips yet, but been riding with regular shoes for a few days and love the mallets... i've been using the more aggressive plates. haven't had any trouble with slipping, or my feet hurting... hell of a lot better than riding on candy's... those "platforms" are useless to me. maybe it's just me though? i also haven't gone very far on them, trips less than 2 miles. i could see how (as was mentioned) riding in clips could make them feel like overkill though, we'll see