Thanks to all for the helpful suggestions - and the specific SPD reference was very helpful, Dudelsack.
If I try clipless, those or the eggbeaters will get a trial.
And tsl, thanks for setting me straight about fitting - I had gone to the largest almost-LBS and the fitter said that basically it'd be a waste of time fitting me without clipless pedals. I mist have switched my scepticism off for some reason. I'll go elsewhere if I have any doubts. And yeah, I know how to do the basic stuff already. I just like to have an exploded diagram of every part in my noggin and it bugs me when I look at the bottom bracket and simply don't know exactly how it looks!
I borrowed the pedals off the Atala and lubed 'em and on they went for a trial. I have an old pair of Shimano SPD shoes that I never affixed cleats to. Layered up in a fredly way due to the windy 35° afternoon. Took the right two allen wrenches and rode around the airport perimeter, stopping a few times to adjust the bar angle and tweak the seat height. I managed to avoid all the small sand berms practically everywhere. The city ran out of salt and started using grit and beach sand or so it appears.
I had initially feared that the waaaaaayyyyyy oversized tubes on the Legend would prove to be too stiff, buy I couldn't have been more wrong. While there's no discernible bb deflection, the ride is comfy yet solid. No teeth were rattled in the bumpy / scarred bits of the road. Also, my cervical vertebrae (one locus of OA) like the higher head tube and rising stem. Even with 95 pounds in the 23s, it rides quietly and accelerates responsively. Overall, it feels very nimble.
I might have to consider a shorter stem once I get a little more involved it working out my fit. I had spent a fair amount of time having a look at variously helpful YouTube fitting videos. It is too early to tell though, as I've been only on a 3-speed for the last few months. I used to spend most of my time on the hoods of my Stan Pike, and that kept me from moving around too much. I'll be spending a lot of time with my steel tape measure, that's for sure!
I am really happy. I had spent the last two years in a delayed recovery of an achilles rupture - my skin wouldn't heal - so a lot of my strength atrophied with me being forced to be on my back with my leg up. This purchase was a kind of desperate attempt to motivate me to get some real miles under me again - to renew the joy that is lacking in my short-ish and trafficky commute.
My other bikes are both friction DT levers - and are so second nature to me that the new challenge of having brifters to deal with is my one Rip Van Winkle area. I've understood how both front and back shift and why they work the way they work, but I just find it comical that I have to spend brainpower on it. I imagine that these will also become instinctual - and then the DT levers will feel clunky. The gears work well and I have quite a lot of increments to choose from, once I get used to managing the triple.
Thanks again for everyone's help/encouragement!
Here it is:
