We have a fairly new cyclist in our group. She rides a Specialized Ruby that she bought on e-bay. The bike appears to be in good condition, but she has difficulties moving from small chain ring to large chain ring on the compact double. Eventually it will move. I'm thinking this is a matter of cable tension.

On our ride this afternoon, I noticed that the derailleur cables are crossed under the downtube. At the time, I did not have presence of mind to notice if the cables cross in front of the head tube, but I would assume they do.

I cannot recall ever having seen cables cross under the downtube. I'm thinking all of the ones I have seen have run in parallel under the downtube.

Are crossed cables as described normal? Could this be the cause of the difficulty in moving from small ring to large ring?