Originally Posted by
drlogik
To save money for the shop (time is money), pre-stretch the brake and derailleur cables and check the tension of the spokes and adjust if necessary, then true. Fifteen minutes up front saves an hour when they bring it in for a tune-up.
Although derailer and brake cables are “pre-stretched”, there is still some construction stretch left in the cable. It’s around 0.5 to 1% . That may not seem like much but on a 2300mm cable, that can be 10 to 20mm of stretch. When I install derailer cables, I shift gears several times without moving the derailer then I reachor the cable and do it again as many times as necessary to get the cable so that it doesn’t stretch anymore.