Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post

+1 on what laura* said. The cable doesn't go where it seems like it ought to on the 105 FD. There's a little protrusion on the washer (or on the pivot arm? I forget which even though I just replaced that cable four days ago) - anyway, there's a little protrusion that looks like it's supposed to hold the cable, but it's not. It's to keep the washer from turning when you tighten the bolt. On the opposite side there's a shallow channel that's very hard to see, especially if there's any grit or dirt in there - that's where the cable goes. When it's properly installed, the cable lives on the frameward side of the pivot arm, and the end of it is pointed out toward your leg, so that it could even catch your calf or heel if you don't bend it back.


PS - a barrel adjuster is really handy. Make sure you install one the next time you replace your cable housings...
Oh, the bike without barrel adjusters - I'd bought a frame that evening and just had to build it up immediately. So I stripped all the pieces off an old bike & put it on the new bike. The barrel adjusters didn't fit the new bike, so they were left off. bike was finished at 2 am, and I took it for a spin. I haven't had to tune that bike since (it shifts great), so I haven't bothered to go get barrel adjusters to fit it. It does have a barrel adjuster on the rear derailleur, so I can tweak that if I have to.


Whenever I replace the cables or anything like that, I'll get it some barrel adjusters.

I checked my surly's 105 front derailleur - the cable does stick out towards my leg and the cable is clamped on the frameward side of the arm. And it looks like there's a slight groove that it's sitting in, but I didn't unscrew it to tell for sure. I don't think it's that the cable's routed wrong. But then, the cable is routed how it seems like it out to be (at least to me), so maybe it is routed wrong. I checked the diagrams on the install pdf on shimano, and it seems to be in line with that.