One of the Qld ten year old boys has been using road clips for three years, never unclips except for a couple of times when the cleat was worn right down. Thats the only con to using road clips, walking around wears the cleats down and in his case the cleats last about three months.
My theory about the pro's unclipping is because they don't know exactly what they are buying.
Pedals and cleats come in different degrees of float, most are 0, 3, 6, or 9 degrees of float.
The best option for BMX is 0 float, the foot is held securely, also because of less lateral movement the foot produces more direct power, however BMX riders (and a lot of road cyclists) don't know that there is a choice and tend to get the cleats with 6 or 9 degrees of float which gives the foot more sideways movement making it relatively easy to unclip.
Yes it can be difficult to clip back in but after frequent use it becomes second nature, just watch the ten year old I mentioned, today at the Queensland titles the wind almost blew him off the gate just as it went down and he had to unclip to steady himself, he clipped back in so fast no one noticed and he went on to win that moto.
