Sorry, the shifter is set at neutral when it is set so maximum amount of cable is released. Basically, for SIS, on both shifters, click the lever behind the brake lever until you can't click anymore (that would mean low gear for front derailleur and high gear for rear). When you, per your original post, "used the inner shifter to release all the tension on the cable", you set the shifter to neutral.
OK I tried it with the maximum released and it still does not seem to be working.
I have Integra shifters. Basically what I did was to let all of the slack out and fed it through the hole and pulled it through. Is there a trick seating the cable?
This is a spare cable that has been hanfing around for a while. I also have a spare for my hybrid. Could I have gotten them mixed up? I compared to the old cable and they look the same to me.