interesting. I've never opened up the system to press the pistons back to zero for pad reinstall. just use the butter knife pushed all the way through the caliper so I can put even pressure across the face of the piston. just googled it and it looks like this is how at least a few youtubers also do it. probably means it's wrong.
as far as the der clutch, I've never used it. I just put the drive train in a high gear (small cog) and that's been good enough. I mean, remember the days before clutch ders? how did we survive?
speaking of ders, the last piece of the puzzle just arrived today: a 12sp chain, ordered shipped (free) to Sun&Ski on Anderson from their Tulsa store. no one local had one in stock (even pure online shops seemed to be out), and SnS surprisingly had the best price.
the hidden price was having to wait for Fedex to rout it from Tulsa to California, to Cypress, to Pflugerville, back to Cypress, then back to Pflugerville with no deliver date estimate. So I was surprised to get an email from the store this afternoon that it was ready for pickup. the OEM packaging had definitely done some traveling. hopefully, the chain itself isn't bent.
can't wait to climb without dying, in this blast furnace.