Just completed the 20 year flat pedal challenge too and I have no plans to go back to clipless. I rode them from '96-99 because it was the cool thing to do, but then I started racing downhill and felt better on flats (with hiking shoes of course!).
Then feeling like having a little newness, I bought clipless pedals for my mtb in 2012 and sold them a few months after. Then I bought a pair for my commuter/road bike 5 years ago and sold them last year. I just like to be able to wear whichever shoes I feel like wearing when I'm commuting or riding on the road and I didn't feel like it gave me that much more in my riding "experience".
Flat pedal shoes are so much more comfortable than clipless shoes (the ones I've had weren't high-end) and feel more "natural" to me. Weirdly, it was riding technical climbs that I didn't like on the clipless. I was always affraid that I couldn't unclip and fall, so many times I stopped and walked up on climbs that I would clear on flats. To each their own thought!
Sept. 13, 2021, 9:56 a.m. - Martin
Just completed the 20 year flat pedal challenge too and I have no plans to go back to clipless. I rode them from '96-99 because it was the cool thing to do, but then I started racing downhill and felt better on flats (with hiking shoes of course!). Then feeling like having a little newness, I bought clipless pedals for my mtb in 2012 and sold them a few months after. Then I bought a pair for my commuter/road bike 5 years ago and sold them last year. I just like to be able to wear whichever shoes I feel like wearing when I'm commuting or riding on the road and I didn't feel like it gave me that much more in my riding "experience". Flat pedal shoes are so much more comfortable than clipless shoes (the ones I've had weren't high-end) and feel more "natural" to me. Weirdly, it was riding technical climbs that I didn't like on the clipless. I was always affraid that I couldn't unclip and fall, so many times I stopped and walked up on climbs that I would clear on flats. To each their own thought!