Ahoy y'all.
Got this 2001 Cannondale R1000 for my buddy and we're in tear down mode. I took the brifters off to clean them - and we took out all the cables since we're putting new ones on. While I was cleaning them, I noticed that one of them was really difficult to click the shifter mechanism. Then I noticed that there was this weird piece that seemed to be jammed in one of the cable outlets, and the other shifter didn't have it at all. They are circled in the pics below - anyone know what's going on here? That little piece seems to be real jammed and I can't move it.
OK next question - probably a really dumb one:
Same bike, I took the bars and stem off. And pulled the fork out. This is really my first time doing a build with a threadless headset - every single project bike before has been a classic/vintage with a 1" threaded. So, like, how does the fork/steerer stay up in the headtube? With a threaded headset there's...threads, and the locknut. But there's no mechanism to "catch" the steerer and keep it up in the headtube while it's up in the bike stand. Did I drop a mystery piece or am I missing something stupid easy?
The cups are still pressed into the head tube, and I've got the 2 bearing cartridges - and everything else I can see in diagrams online. Does it require the stem & the top cap & blot in order to snug everything together?
Thanks.