Apparently your bike has an FD-R453 ... I have an FD-R443 and it works like a charm.
The problem is probably not the derailleur itself, as it is a quality component, but rather the cables or more likely the exact set-up.
Setting up a front derailleur is tricky and needs very precise allignment to be able to do all the gears.
I have an SRAM attack gripshift and it has 9 clicks for the front derailleur instead of 3 clicks on most shifters ... this is very handy for "trimming" the front derailleur to get into awkward gearcombo's when needed.