Okay, my mistake. But I would still not cut the cable housing too short. If the cable from the shifter to the frame stops on the front is too short, the bike can’t turn properly. If the cable housing on the rear derailer is too tight, the derailer won’t work properly and/or you’ll kink the cable. And, if you have a dual suspension bike with under the bottom bracket routing, a short cable housing will cause shifting problems as the suspension moves. In other words, the housing has to be the right length.

And how often do you have to wipe your chain? Only after application or after each ride? Every oil user that I’ve run across talk ad infinitum about wiping down the chain after ever ride.

By the way, that’s not “my experience”. That’s how oil works. That’s how fluids work. They flow under gravity. It’s not something you can stop unless you cool the fluid to the point where it becomes a solid.

Throwing a tube away after a single puncture is a waste of money and resources.

Um…yes. Having a little bit of adjustment in both directions comes in handy down the road. It may not be needed all the time but it’s nice to have.

How about a bit of respect. I didn’t call you an amateur. On the stand, you can easily shift an untuned derailer so that the derailer doesn’t go into the spokes. Once into the low gear, stop pedaling! Then move the shift lever (again without pedaling) and see if the rear derailer moves. No risk of sending the chain into the spokes because the chain isn’t moving. The small amount of movement using the cable is also easier to see how much the derailer is off than moving it by hand. You are going to have to test the limits during a shift anyway, so why not begin there?

And, yet, I see so many people who start with limit screws to try to “fix” shifting.