Originally Posted by
_ForceD_
I may resort to this practice in the future.
All … when I disconnected the cable from the front derailleur, the shifter twists easily and freely; the cable moves through the entire routing easily, no snags; and the derailleur itself moves in and out freely. But with the cable connected the shifter is just hard to twist. So my feeling is that it’s just a poor design. The grip shifter doesn’t provide enough force, and the derailleur arm looks too short to provide the amount of leverage needed to easily move the cage.
Well, even though I prefer other types of shifters, I stop short of believing that a GripShifter setup could be as bad as what you are describing. There are top pull front derailleurs and bottom pull front derailleurs. Are you sure your shifter is pulling on the cable clamp in the right direction? It's time for some pictures to be uploaded. We may not all prefer GripShifters, but we can make them work by gum. Standing by.