Poetically enough, the final link in the chain of building the bicycle was fitting the chain. (And slightly less poetically, installing the gear cables, but let's ignore that for the moment.)
I went through quite a faff to get the chain to the right size, but you can save yourself the trouble by watching this handy video:
That describes it far better than I ever could. About the only thing I'd add is that I can't say enough about how useful quick links are. In the past, I've fitted Sram chains that use quick links, and it's a doddle.
This time, though, I had a Shimano chain and connector pin. The connector pin has a "leader" part which you push right the way through the link, and the theory is that you use a chain tool to do that, then cut the leader bit off with bolt cutters or somesuch. This was, indeed, a faff, and I ended up using a hacksaw to cut the leader off. I'm sure you're not supposed to do that.
With the chain at the correct length and fitted to the bike, it's time for the last bit - fitting the gear cables and tightening them to give you nice, smooth shifts. For this, I'm again going to refer you to a video that explains things much more clearly than I ever could.
This actually covers removing old cables before fitting new ones, but the same principle applies. Personally, I found that fishing the cables through the shifters was a bit tricky, but a little bit of perseverance got the job done.
And that's it!
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