I picked up a CX bike (Jamis Nova Race) to be my commuter over the weekend. It didn't come with pedals so I bought the cheapest set they had at the LBS figuring they'd work for now and I could always upgrade later.

Fast forward to this morning when i started my ride it was misty out and noticed 2 major issues with the pedals. The first was while carrying my bike down the steps, the open ends of the pedals were really good at digging into the back of my calves! The second problem is that they had absolutely no grip on my wet tennis shoes so my feet nearly slipped off the pedals twice just on the way down my street. I turned around and decided I will only be riding in dry conditions until I can change them out which hopefully will be soon.

Thus my question on pedal recommendations. I'm thinking about something that either already has toe clips or can have toe clips added. Not sure I want to go clipless quite yet. Was originally thinking of adding clips to the pedals I've got which would certainly help on keeping my foot in place, but won't solve my scraped up calf problem. Not looking to spend a ton of money, but also don't want something cheap that will fall apart or give me problems either.

Picture of my new ride:

What about something like these?

Not sure if the hex pins would do a job on your calf as well, but they should keep your foot in place nicely. I have a pair of double sided (spd/platform) pedals with pins like that, and they keep my foot in place very well.

Here's a similar set with molded plastic pins that would probably be easier on your calf.

Congrats on the new ride; it's very nice.
Regarding pedals, I went through the same thing when I bought my first bike that didn't come with them.
I had tapped out my funds on the bike, and didn't want to spend more on pedals and such.

So I got some cheap plastic ones. Reading here, it became apparent that pedal bearing friction is maybe the biggest single energy waste in non-committed cycling. They didn't used to be so bad; they used to have good bearings, but slowly, they got cheaper and cheaper, and the bearings are what suffered. Go to the bike shop and try the bearings in your hand of some cheap pedals vs. some nice ones. You won't believe the difference.

I wasn't sure about clipless either, until I tried toe clips. Those things are for the birds. Just junk hanging everywhere, and if you're not using them, they're upside down and scraping on the pavement.

I finally just charged a set of Shimano pedals to the tune of $125. Believe me: once the financial pain is over, you'll not regret the purchase. The ones I bought have clips on one side, and are flat on the other. Thus, they're slower to use, whether you're wearing clip-in shoes or flats, because you have to find the right side for your footwear. But you never have to worry about being caught without the right shoes or being uncomfortable while riding.

Those Shimano pedals are on my cyclocross bike, but I use them 90% of the time with regular flat shoes. But I have the option of clipless when needed, and the rest of the time, I have low friction bearings.

On the urban bike I just got, I knew I didn't want clipless, but I didn't want high bearing friction either. The stockers were slick plastic pedals with terrible bearings. So I bought a set of aluminum pedals with good bearings and protruding setscrews that act as the grips against my shoe soles. They're great. They were $50.

Spend some money now on the pedals and a good U-lock. If you're going to save money anywhere temporarily, save it on luggage and racks and lighting. Although nicer lights are a pleasure to use, an inexpensive set of LED lights will see you safetly through many rides.

My MTB has toe clips and I actually like them a good bit. I keep them pretty loose so they're easy to get in and out of but I still get a noticeable boost in power. Good call on the bearings though. Will make sure to keep that in mind. May look at some double sided options too just to give me some upgrade flexibility.

put toe clips on the pedals you have and when you carry the bike down/up the stairs grab the top tube and curl the bike so you carry it like this

sorry for the crap pic. result of a quick google search.

The bearings on pedals are often way too tight out of the box. They can often be adjusted. I've gotten even cheap pedals to turn freely without play, although adjusting bearings on pedals can be frustrating.

I carry my bike up and down stairs all the time. I used to hit the pedals on my calves but somehow no longer do. I turn the pedals around and carry the bike in a way that prevents that.

Yeah I know pain has a strong tendency to reinforce a lesson. I'm sure I'll get it soon enough, just wish the designer had not added what look almost like fangs to the ends of the pedals!

And, when you lift the bike to carry it, make sure the pedal is in the location,
that wont dig into your body, by rotating the cranks .

Can you explain more about pedal bearing friction, and how it contributes to the ride? I have to admit that I don't think about pedals all that much, just use stock ones, but this has got me interested.

I have bought three pairs of cheap platform pedals and one decent pair, and they all came with bearings that were too tight. These all had traditional cup/cone bearings with loose (i.e. not caged) balls. It was possible on all of these to pry the end cap off, loosen the lock nut, slightly back off the cone that is accesible from that end, and then retighten the lock nut. That's the theory anyway. In practice, it is a pain to lock these down right at the point where there is no play and no friction. The reason is that it's hard to prevent the cone from turning along with the lock nut when you are tightening it. Needless to say, it's really nice when pedals come out of the box with the bearings adjusted correctly.

Edit: To try to answer your question, I haven't noticed that having tight pedal bearings is really that noticeable when I'm pedaling. I just don't like the thought that the things is wearing out faster than necessary.