At the Co-op, I just finished taking apart and reassembling a set of Shimano m520 pedals. Someone had stripped the release tension bolts, and I replaced them, as well as relubing the internals. Now good for another 5,000 miles!

These are one of the great bargains in cycling. Great retention and release, hard to kill, and relatively resistant to mud. Plus you can replace/service almost everything on them.

BTW: I used (Version 2) Ritchey pedals for many years. The Richey 2-bolt cleats superficially look like Shimano cleats, but they are dangerously incompatible. When you clip in, you either cannot stay in, or release out, I cannot remember which; in any case - scary...