i love my eggbeaters... absolutely no mud clearance problems. if i had to name a downside, i'd say that after a loooong ride, especially when i take the cross bike on technical singletrack where i'm standing a lot, i wish it was a bigger platform... many of my teammates race on crank-brothers candies, which have a little platform.
seriously. crank bros == awesome
http://www.theninjadon.blogspot.com "The bicycle riders drank much wine, and were burned and browned by the sun. They did not take the race seriously except among themselves." -- Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises