However whilst investigating this I stupidly put the shifter in gear 1 (not 14) before detaching the ex-box and cleaning it a bit
Now it won't reattach properly - how do I realign things to gear 14 so I can attach it back correctly?
You need an 8mm box spanner or a socket that fits whatever driver you carry in your toolkit. Take the EXT box off and let it hang on the cables. Identify a nut, brass if I recollect correctly, in the centre of the hub. Turn the nut on the hub in either direction with the socket until it will turn no more. Turn the rotary gear control on the handlebars to gear 14. Pack grease into the cavity on the EXT box. Try to fit the EXT box back on the hub while wriggling the rotary control on the handlebars a very little way, not enough to change gear. If it is difficult to match them, or if you can get it on and discover the rotary control offers you only one gear, take the EXT box off again, turn the nut on the hub in the other direction until it stops, and try to fit the EXT box again and test it. A successful match has 13 clicks over the full 14 gear set.
In theory you can also do the matching at gear 1 but it is so much more difficult that I prefer to do it at gear 14, as just described. Still in theory, you can also perform the matching at any other gear, but the math is another confusing factor. I prefer simplifying tasks to their easiest, fastest execution.
You may want to carry the 8mm socket in your traveling kit because it permits you to change gears if you should break a gear cable and not want to refit it beside the road. My entire traveling toolkit weighs 68gr including this 8mm socket with an integral stud on the back to fit my titanium driver, so it isn't a hardship to include it.
"At the bottom of the mountain, choose your gear wisely." -- The Buddha
