Originally Posted by SuperDave

/Takes a closer look at bike....

Not during initial assembly nor the first ten-mile ride (or since) did I even pay that attention. Hell, I had to pull up pics of my old bike to even confirm how it's supposed to be done. I been away from this too long.

I suspect that was deliberate, to protect the hydraulic brakes from being moved by an impact especially considering one wheel was shipped detached. I wondered why the shifting action felt weird. Mea culpa.