Hmh, interesting what you learn here! I was never aware, until I read these messages, that this was even an issue.

I've been cycling off and on for years, but I only got my first pair of road shoes/cleats in February. They were Looks, and I've never ridden in anything else. I had absolutely no clue about shoes and cleats, and the LBS guy recommended Look because of the larger-size platform. (He knew I was training for a century, and would be riding long distances.) He admitted that they're tougher to learn to use than the other ones (SPD? I'm not sure), but mentioned only the "one-side-only" factor of the Look (that you have to flip the pedal around to the correct side to clip your foot into it.)

I have size 6-7 feet, and I've never had the slightest difficulty in disengaging from the Look cleat (although on a few of my learning-curve topples, my foot stayed attached after I fell!) Maybe I'm just more of a brute about twisting my foot out.

I think I was the only one of my fellow century-training teammates (all but one of whom were female) who was using Look cleats. A few of the others had marked difficulty getting into and out of their SPD (?) cleats (they were also new to cleats and shoes.)

I guess it just goes to show -- everyone's different, and if something doesn't work for you, don't beat up on yourself -- keep pestering until the thing is made right, or go find another thing that does work! Your equipment should adapt to you, not vice versa.