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Clipins: just do it!
Just finished 5 days at Kiwarrak - see Winco's status post. All i can say is it was paradise. But even paradise has downsides...Yes the mozzies are lethal and they bite right through Lycra so be warned. After the first day with no less than 40 bites from waist to knees (I had sprayed my legs but not my shorts!) I armoured up: tights under shorts then long shirt over my nether region then spray the lot liberally before setting off. I'm not kidding.
But it's the trees you really have to watch out for. I insisted on this trip being my opportunity to learn to ride clipins...the score was trees 3, Sue nil. And the scars to prove it. What a revelation clipins are though! Hooked, I am...if anyone out there is contemplating the change, just do it! I couldn't have imagined how good that feeling is of control and being at one with the bike. I can stand up if i need to on the pinches - bliss!
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Definitely. I was only too happy with clipping in. My only downside is there is one section I am not game to ride at manly dam. That kind of three step bit. I used to take the line to the right (still fine with that part) and then the line in the middle, this part I cannot do anymore because I used to fall alot off the back of the bike but being clipped in now means it is not as easy as just jumping off the back and standing up. Now i can't get past that section without getting off the bike
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I've always ridden clippless for both XC and DH and maintain I can get my foot out of the pedal and on the ground quicker with clippless than I can with a good set of flat pedals and shoes.
For techi sections it's all in your head. You just need to commit.
However, I do think they can mask bad pedalling technique and after listening to the pros and cons from riders who use both and reading a few articles by James Wilson, such as http://www.bikejames.com/strength/im-really-not-..., I have started trying to ride with flats again for mucking around and All Mountain type rides.
If you get, and keep, your pedalling technique right with flats the benefits clipless bring will be more pronounced
Variety is the spice of life... horses for courses... or something
This was the problem when I first started riding DH.
"for both XC and DH and maintain I can get my foot out of the pedal and on the ground quicker with clippless than I can with a good set of flat pedals and shoes."
My feet were far less likely to come off the pedals riding 510's and a good set of flats. I found when things got pear shaped clipless sometimes released unexpectedly at very bad moments.
With 510s and a good set of flats I'm stuck to the bike. Too much sometimes, put your foot down on the wrong part of the pedal and you can't slide it around without stepping off again.
I have a slightly different take on this. It's not the clipping in, it's the stiffness of the shoes. I clip in with both soft 661s and stiff Sidis depending on what sort of riding I'm doing. I can really notice the difference between the two in the power you can put down.