Originally Posted by
Giga
Not sure what he meant by plucking the cable, but I did tug on it. When shifted to the middle chainring from inner, if I tug the cable, the FD moves out. However, the problem is, if I push the FD, it goes back in. The opposite is true from largest to middle, after a downshift, the FD will not move if tugged, but if you press on it, it will move inwards. Then you can tug it and it will move back out. Hope that makes sense.
Basically, if you have the FD on the smallest chain ring, you can pull the cable away from the down tube and it will move the FD out which shifts to the larger chain rings. If you release the cable, the FD should move back to the smallest chain ring. If it does not move back, the problem is between the point you pulled on the wire and the FD. If it moves back, the problem is between the point you pulled the wire and the shifter.
It sounds like you did this and the FD did not return back to the small chain ring. If this is the case, it is either a problem with the FD or the cable between the point you pulled on it and the FD. This narrows down the problem a bit.