This afternoon I finished a project on my bike (at least I thought I did) and it just didn't work the way it had many times in the past for me.

Short story: My front shifter was giving me problems. It was only a few weeks old, so a replacement from Amazon was procured. It arrived today. Removed bad shift. Check. Installed new shifter. Check. Installed new cable housing and ferules. Check. Ran cable to derailleur. Check. Used cable puller to pull the cable just as I've done many times in the past. No problem. Tightened down the tie down bold. Good to go! Or not...

Shifting was hinky at best. Mad a few adjustments, check cable tension, was able to get derailleur to shift up to middle chain ring, and then to the outer. Down shifted to the middle ring, then attempted to downshift to the small ring. No go. Checked cable tension again, wasn't satisfied. Loosened the tie down bolt, used cable puller yet again, and re-secured the cable. Same problem with the shifting.

Checked the alignment and height of the derailleur, no problems. Made some adjustments to the limit screws, watching the space between the derailleur cage and the chain as I went. Double checked the new shifter and made certain it was pulling cable. No problem there.

No change. Can shift up to middle then outer ring. Can shift down to middle, and no further.

I've done this many times over the course the years, and never had this problem. Completely at a loss here.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.