The shifting has been off for ages,
brought it to the local shop multiple times but it never got fixed, so
it wasn't brought in specifically for that, but
I remembered it mentioned offhandedly during other work, so let me take a look.
This same rear derailleur (meaning the actual unit itself, not just the same grade)
was apparently acting up on another bike before this,
but this is a long-cage spec. So it clicked right away for me.
The cable clamping point is in the wrong spot.
Even with a mark drawn specifically to show where it goes, and
with the slot cut so the cable doesn't get crushed,
it's obviously designed as a foolproof setup, yet they got it wrong anyway.
I bet they were doing the same thing back when the derailleur was on the previous frame.
By the way, the customer didn't do this themselves.
They brought it in for shifting adjustments several times,
but each time got told "it's fine like this" and sent away.
But when I look at it with the cable released,
there are traces of "the initial position on the top side is extremely shifted outward
=it's been forcibly adjusted to match the incorrect cable pull" visible.
Their standards for acceptable work are pretty low.
They got as far as "something feels wrong" and were diligent about it, so that part was good.
Just the other day with the same customer,
there was a tubular tire on the rear wheel of their TT bike
with the tread pattern facing backwards, and
when I pointed it out, I ended up having to re-install it myself.
Anyway, regarding the RD-6800-GS (→here).
I fixed this same mistake a few months ago on a different bike—
it was a Synapse complete bike sold at Cannondale Shinsaibashi.
In that case it was an RD-6800-GS that came stock on the complete bike,
but they'd also done an extreme initial position adjustment.
In both cases it ended up "fine as-is" when sent out, but
this seems to be the kind of mistake even pros make
so if you're reading this and using an RD-6800-GS,
please double-check the cable clamping position one more time.
brought it to the local shop multiple times but it never got fixed, so
it wasn't brought in specifically for that, but
I remembered it mentioned offhandedly during other work, so let me take a look.
This same rear derailleur (meaning the actual unit itself, not just the same grade)
was apparently acting up on another bike before this,
but this is a long-cage spec. So it clicked right away for me.
The cable clamping point is in the wrong spot.
Even with a mark drawn specifically to show where it goes, and
with the slot cut so the cable doesn't get crushed,
it's obviously designed as a foolproof setup, yet they got it wrong anyway.
I bet they were doing the same thing back when the derailleur was on the previous frame.
By the way, the customer didn't do this themselves.
They brought it in for shifting adjustments several times,
but each time got told "it's fine like this" and sent away.
But when I look at it with the cable released,
there are traces of "the initial position on the top side is extremely shifted outward
=it's been forcibly adjusted to match the incorrect cable pull" visible.
Their standards for acceptable work are pretty low.
They got as far as "something feels wrong" and were diligent about it, so that part was good.
Just the other day with the same customer,
there was a tubular tire on the rear wheel of their TT bike
with the tread pattern facing backwards, and
when I pointed it out, I ended up having to re-install it myself.
Anyway, regarding the RD-6800-GS (→here).
I fixed this same mistake a few months ago on a different bike—
it was a Synapse complete bike sold at Cannondale Shinsaibashi.
In that case it was an RD-6800-GS that came stock on the complete bike,
but they'd also done an extreme initial position adjustment.
In both cases it ended up "fine as-is" when sent out, but
this seems to be the kind of mistake even pros make
so if you're reading this and using an RD-6800-GS,
please double-check the cable clamping position one more time.