A Friend asked me to help her with her front shifting. She could not shift into her middle and large chainrings (it was a triple, obvs.) I am not knowledgeable about the Shimano iterations but the derailleur cables exited the brifters on the inside of the bars.

I first tried shifting the FD and found that it worked both up and down. But it was very stiff. My friend, who has arthritic hands, said that it had worked much more easily, but then changed between one ride and the next.

After she told me that it had been easier before, I undid the cable from the derailleur and checked the cable and housing for free morion. All good (and it was very clean. The brifter also moved freely and easily when I held the cable end. So I figured it might be an issue with the front derailleur itself. Now, the bike may be a few years old but it is pristine. My friend keeps her bike in the house and is generally a careful person. I tried moving the dérailler by hand and it was indeed hard. We added a bit of oil to the pivot points, but it was still hard. I did not see any way in which the derailleur's return spring could have gotten out of place. So I am at a loss. It is definitely a very stiff derailleur and pretty much unusable for my friend. Can anyone suggest a way to get it to relax?