I've got a 34.9mm, clamp-on Shimano front derailleur. I was at the bike co-op trying to replace my shifter cable, which had become frayed badly, but got stumped at the final stage. I am unsure how to route the derailleur cable in a way that it doesn't end up touching a pulley mechanism on the derailleur body!

Picture 6 illustrates the view of the bike, upside-down, with the cable routing under the bottom bracket guide. Usually it's a straight shot from the BB to the clamping mechanism, right? Pic 7 is a wider shot of all the routing from the shifters down to the BB. Pic 9 is the view from above.

The cable gets obstructed while in the small gear. With an upshift, and subsequent downshift, the FD pushes the cable off that pulley towards the rear of the bike- it doesn't seem like the cable naturally wants to stay on the pulley.

I've searched the forums, and have come across warnings to make sure the cable's in the designated groove in the pinch bolt. The cable is located in the groove. Not sure what else to do..

Is the derailleur alignment off? Might it be defective, and I should just buy a replacement?

Thanks,

Jake

Approach the anchor bolt from the other side. That groove washer spins dosen't it? I pull the cable away from the chainwheel when attaching my fd. Also learned to take a few pics before I disassemble these days.

Something is definitely wrong but I can't tell what it is from the pictures. Your cable routing looks right and the cage alignment isn't that bad. I'd take it back to the Co-Op and see if one of the experienced mechanics there can figure it out.

I would say based on the pics that you should thread the cable "beneath" that rubber washer thing (refer to 9.jpg) before securing it with the derailleur cable screw. My bike doesn't have it but I think that rubber washer makes the cable taut without going overboard with the tension.

I might be wrong though so it's just my 2 cents.