I have the VKB T-Rudder Mk IV pedals and they are excellent.
Ditto, IMO the VKB pedals are the best bang/$ out there, plus they move from pressing your foot/ankle, as opposed to your leg/knee like most other "foot on pedal" pedal sets. MFG Xwind are nice as well, but I use them the least. Slaw's RX Viper are probably the nicest I've got, but they cost several times what the VKB pedals do. I just got Virpil's new pedals, but haven't flown more than an hour with them, but so far so good, all metal construction like VKB (mostly metal as in 95%).
Mayhem, if no hardware toe brakes is something you can come around to live with, I'd seriously consider adding VKB to your list, despite you feeling they are a dealbreaker atm. I have the Virpil Ace 2 myself, and have tried it quickly in the foot on floor/combat style setup (similar to my Slaw Viper RX peds in movement), and they so far are excellent like I said. I've had several sets of CH over the years, you probably notice they get a bit crunchy over time as debris/dust falls into them, requiring disassembly to clean them. Thrustmaster TRP are probably the only set of pedals out there I don't have, and I refuse to give TM one more dollar due to the 3 Warthog sticks I've had, and the sticktion/BS gimbal construction that they have all had, and their absolutely abysmal support. Guys that have reviewed them say they work well though. MFG Xwind are mostly made out of a non-metal material, but they are pretty solid still, and an excellent foot-off-floor pedal. One nice thing about the top end Virpil pedals is that you can switch them between foot on floor and foot off floor, it only takes a couple minutes tops.
I took a pic of the VKB peds compared to the Virpil Ace2 (I have the foot on pedal brackets on now, going to try that out tonight) for size comparison Mayhem. Tomorrow I'll grab my Slaw and Xwinds and do the same. VKB are a very slim profile compared to other peds, but very, very comfortable IMO, you don't feel like your legs/knees are too close or too far, plus it's easy to have your feet right off of them and then quickly put them back I find...