I've come to the conclusion that for as much as I like my cheapy Shimano PD-M520 pedals, they just are just really sucking a lot of the fun out of some of my excursions, mainly the ones where the trail consists of a lot of smaller rocks that I'm bouncing and sliding over. In that scenario, I either fall, or have to walk.
Also with slowly creeping up and down rather technical sections, being clipped in is proving to be a pain in the ass.
But that said, I do like to be clipped in whenever possible.
So I'm looking at stuff like Crank Bros. Mallet or Acid pedals, where you can clip in but also stay unclipped if you need to. Not pedals like the ones from Shimano where one side is a platform and the other side clipless, I imagine that's going to get annoying, and these from Shimano would be an option but they are like way heavy compared to the other pedals I'm looking at:
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/PE406C03-Shimano+Pd-M545+Bmxdownh...
...but with the Crank Bros pedals, I see a lot of reviews saying the bearings go to hell after not a lot of usage.
So what others am I missing? I don't know of a lot of bike part retailers online other than Speedgoat, Jenson, Nashbar, Performance, and BlueSkyCycling. I'd be willing to check out local bike shops but I've already been to two and they just offered me the Shimanos and Crank Bros that I saw online.
Thanks!