I highly recommend those pedals. Was in Providence yesterday and had to get over College hill (way steeper than Beacon hill IMHO) and no slipping what so ever. Stood almost the entire time up the hill and though there was some creaking from the stress I put the bike under but it performed awesome. This morning I finally averaged a 4 minute mile to the train so once I got rid of the rust in my cadence the 56t is giving me just what I was looking for, again kudos to those pedals (I was even wearing boat shoes) because there was no slippage.
For people considering an entry level like my Dahon, adding about $110 in upgrades for the crank and pedals made a huge difference in the performance. You really have to dig around out there to figure out some upgrade options but again IMHO these are my top two recommendations. Still considering the rear carrier/bag, but I need to see how the backpack performs in the warmer weather.