Shimano Nexave front derailleur - Cable question
 

I'm working on a Schwinn Searcher hybrid (nothing fancy :)). It has Shimano Nexave tap fire shifters and derailleurs. I am trying to adjust the front derailleur. The bolt for the cable is placed right behind the derailleur cage, making it almost impossible to reach, unless I pull the cage all the way out, in which case the cable will have too much tension.

I have worked on countless derailleurs, I have never seen one before with a cable bolt placed right behind the cage that cannot be accessed easily with an allan key. See attached picture.http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=380840

Is there a trick? Do I need a special tool?

Try this.

Use a pencil or whatever jammed into the mechanism to hold the cage out against the spring. String and attach the cable, tightening the pinch bolt only until it touches the wire and can hold it loosely. Manually pull out the cage, remove the pencil and let it move in by way of the spring. This will slide the cable back in the pinch bolt (unless you tightened it too much), and it should stay put when the FD is sprung in all the way.

Now, manually pull out the cage against the spring and tighten the pinch bolt.

You should be about as close to a spot on perfect as you could expect. If there's an inline adjuster fine tune using it. Otherwise repeat with a minor tweak such as moving the inner limit so the sprung position is shifted the way you need.