Some data points

A530 pedals; presuming they don't collapse in a heap sometime in the next 5,000 km, they're made of win.  Not fangy, easy to clip into and out of even with SH-51 cleats, not quite as thick as the M324s, and generally better support around the cleat.

High Sierra cranks -- wow.  A 17% increase in the pedal circle diameter makes a difference, or maybe a 30mm spindle and good bearings makes a difference; legs less sad, average speed up, comfortable rowing-along speed way up.  (Must figure out where to ride that isn't chock-full of people strolling about line-abreast in oblivious groups, though.  Fewer ten pound dogs who figure they can take me and the bicycle would also be welcome.)

Less good -- something about the whole process rattled the pluperfect out of the fenders and racks, so that I lost the left side front fender stay bolt, the left side rear rack bolt to the dropouts, and the left side rear rack bolt to the seat stays was about halfway out when the rubbing front fender clued me in that something was wrong.  Right side bolts were somewhat loosened but nothing like as bad as the left side.  More power transmission means more frame flex?  I have no idea.  I'll admit I use lots of anti-seize on the rear rack bolts but the front fender bolt was into a nyloc nut with no grease whatsoever; I'm kinda surprised it rattled loose!  (Had enough spares with me, but need to carry more.)

Also, first time down the new and improved Pottery Road; hit 52 kph while braking.  Less obviously suicidal than the old version, but still not a source of joy.  (that the up side is a separated lane is very much a source of joy.)

A substantial relief

So after the spider-anodizer bent some, and the Post Office bent another, my High Sierra crankset showed up yesterday.

The prized out of the bubble wrap view, above,

 and this the taken-to-component-pieces view.

I'm told Campy cranks work this way, with the central spacer and bolting together.  It took a bit of fiddling to get the spacer to play nicely, and I was very glad I had the correct extension for the 6mm hex driver socket, but it did all go together and get torqued to the specified 50 Nm.

The pedals are Shimano A530s; the goal is to have something less fangy than the impressively durable but also wrapped in a thin strip of  stainless steel as is readily sharpened by encounters with curbs  M234s.  

All together again; I went round and round some lane ways (parts of Toronto stick lane ways between residential streets, and the garage is off the lane way) and managed to convince myself that toe clearance wasn't an issue, despite the SKS Longboard fenders or the 195mm crank arm length.  (Having completely failed to notice it as an issue despite repeated right-angled turns.)

Pedal clearance seems OK, too; the spreadsheet on the Sheldon Brown cite suggests I'd hit at 64.13mm, and the tip of the crank arm is 70.  So it's tight, but it's not too tight, or at least it doesn't seem to be so far.

Seat went down a bit, so I probably want to move one of the spacers up on the stem, too.

Also, to go for an actual ride and see if anything in the drive train bends, but so far, so good.

Eventually she gives up

with marping at me to stop doing that pointless bicycle stuff and pay attention to her, as is my obvious sole function, and tries to blast me away from the repair stand by sheer cuteness.

Small victories

So, I've been developing this bad habit of bending chain rings, to the point where I began to suspect the cranks, or, rather, that one of the arms of the spider was out of flat a bit, and Not Helping in consequence.

Getting 180mm cranks involves a substantial wait for things to be put on a boat; given that, throwing money at the problem means there's no difference between 180 and the 195 various proportional-crank advocates say I (or, rather, someone with my leg length) should use.

Everything I've seen suggests crank length has nothing to do with total power output (at least over short periods of time); that is entirely about pedal velocity.  I am hoping the larger circle will lead to less fatigue, since I'll get more time per unit of pedal distance in terms of muscle recovery.

So, back on 30 June, I ordered some 195mm cranks from High Sierra.

They showed up, due to High Sierra having a bunch of supplier problems involving spiders, on the 29th of August.

With one arm of the spider poking out of the box; it looked a bit scuffed, but otherwise intact, so I was an idiot and didn't think anything of it or try to complain to the post office.

The spider arm as was poking out of the box?  Its chainring bolt hole was just a bit out of round as it arrived.

So back the whole thing goes, where it shall presumptively get a new spider.

This, on the other hand, is managing to fit the third water bottle cage with 35mm tyres and SKS longboard fenders, which took me three tries and a lot of fussing.

But it makes me happy, because it's surprisingly easy to need bottle number three.