I had heard a sound but ignored it since it was a short ride. Finally stopped to see the end cap popped off the rear derraileur cable and the cable itself all frayed.
How bad is this? What is the best solution?
A bit dissapointed this happened on my first ride on my new bike.
That cable is WAY too long. The sound you heard was probably it going into the spokes and popping the cable end. Stayed in the spokes long enough to fray the cable.
take it back to the LBs and have then string a new cable. Should be relatively easy to do and they screwed up by leaving it that long.
remove your spoke protector immediately. Automatic 3 point deduction. 
No serious damage done…you just need a new cable.
This just might be karma, I bought the bine out of town. Would this be an expensive fix if I went to my LBS to change the cable?
Good pickup on the spoke protector. Its driving me nuts but I was too excited for a first ride. I also have to remove the wheel reflectors, those are a pain!
No, it’s super easy. I doubt a shop would charge more than $10-$15 bucks. They might even just have you pay for the parts and just string it for free since it’ll take all of a couple minutes.
Might not need to change the cable. A simple hack is to wrap the area of the cable you intend to cut with electrical tape, then cut the cable (with the tape on) so the tape acts as the cable end. It looks hacky but it you can later replace it with a proper cable end.
Yeah, you certainly don’t have to replace the cable…but on a new bike, that would drive my OCD-ass over the edge!!
Should be a quick, cheap fix.
I don’t how the OP can show their face on these boards after posting a photo with the spoke protector still installed.
To be honest if a mechanic is poor enough to set a cable hitting spokes the dork disc might save the wheel.
Get it up on a stand and run through all the gears, give the bike a good check over.
I don’t tend to trust anyone else so on a new bike I would check limit screws, that every bolt is torqued right, and that things that should be greased are greased etc.
I bought a new bike recently which was shipped to me. The longest, most arduous and frustrating part was removing the bloody spoke protector. I tried cutting it with scissors, then using a stanley knife, then a pair of pliers. Mid way through I stupidly thought I should try taking the wheel off, not noting it was behind the cassette.
Is there an easy way to take that damn thing off?
Take off the cassette. Will require a chain whip and lockring tool.
That.
A good skill to learn and tools to have.
I have seen a couple people successfully mangle it off, but it is a nightmare. 2 minute job with the right tools.
Just saw that referred to as a ‘dork disc’ in another thread too🤣
Or in the case of my brother in law’s 1990 Kona, wait 30 years and it will self destruct mid ride.
