Shimano Tiagra front derailleur cable routing

Question

Ignoring that the cable is not cut down to length, is this cable on my Tiagra front derailleur routed correctly?

The reason I'm double checking is that there is a little tab that sticks off the metal face against which the bolt secures the cable. I've tried to show it here:

I assumed initially that the cable should go between that little tab at the bolt, then proceed to wrap around the bolt clockwise. However, when I did that it looked like this:

With the result that the cable was actually touching the side of the derailleur cage, and it was very difficult to shift.

With the cable instead somewhat counter-intuitively routed outside that little tab and over the top of the bolt axel, as shown in the first pic above, the cable no longer touches the derailleur cage and things seem to be shifting OK.

So I'm about 90% sure this is correct but wanted to double check.

This derailleur is on a 2010 Specialized Tricross Triple. I'm not sure what series number it is. I did find a Shimano dealer manual that described setup for it, but didn't go into detail about the cable routing, beyond a picture showing the cable going over top of the bolt. It did not mention the little tab.

This is a good reminder of why I need to take pictures before I start taking things apart.

Thanks.

Answer 1

You are correct, the cable goes over the tab. There should also be a groove that the cable sits in and maintains its orientation.

Don't beat yourself up, I have even seen new bikes from the factory with the front derailleur incorrectly routed. It's one of the things about these systems that's only obvious if you know.