Hi all, I'm building up a Kikapu frame and wanted to change the cables on my old shifters, 06 Deore, but when I took the covers off the only way I could see to get at the cable end and shifter drum was to disassemble the shifters completely by removing the single nut under the top cover. Is this correct? If I remove this nut will the shifters spontaneously disassemble themselves in a spring loaded eruption of small parts? Is there a better, easier way?

No, it's not necessary or desirable to undo that nut. Free the inner cable at the derailleur end. Find the hole in the body of the shifter roughly opposite where the cable enters it. Move the shifter levers around until you can see the nipple on the end of the shifter cable through the hole then just push the inner cable out of the shifter through the hole. Replace using the reverse of this. Hope this helps.

Assuming they behave at all like STI road levers, you must click the "release" function repeatedly while keeping a bit of tension on the cable until the shifter is in the most "relaxed" position (smallest ring position for the front shifter and smallest cog position for the rear shifter). Then the cable end should be visible at the entry hole. Remove it by pushing the cable back out through the hole.

Yeah this is it. Just for future reference, the the cable entry hole is behind a small plastic grub screw between and just above the "V" of the shifting levers and once removed the cable end is just there. So cut the old cable and push it out then insert the new cable. Thanks guys.