Originally Posted by
FBinNY
Actually, I do the exact opposite. I start with the lever in high, and make sure all fittings are properly settled. Then I shift to low by pushing the RD in by hand and let it hang there. (it moves out partway, but that's OK) I then attach the wire loosely. When I pedal the RD shifts back to high, with wire slipping out through the under-tightened pinch bolt, leaving me with an almost perfectly adjusted cable.
Sometimes I need a bit more slack, which I can get by plucking the bare wire like a guitar string.
I find that this is easier than trying to pull out all the slack.
I do something weird too, but I find it easiest and quickest.
I set the upper and lower limit screws sans cable as usual, then I screw the barrel adjuster all the way in, and back it out 1 1/2 turns.
now I move the dlr to the 2nd cog, and finger pull the cable and tighten it. That's it. Done. 90% of the time I don't even need to trim with the barrel adjuster. What I can't figure out (nor do I care to) is why it works equally well with everything from 7 to 11 speeds.