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.

Try this.

Shift to the outer ring, then back to the middle. Then shift to low where you have the issue.

Now, shift back to the outer ring by pulling the bare wire away from from the down tube as if you were drawing a bow. Continue pedaling and ease the wire back to shift to the middle ring, and let go suddenly.

If it now shifts, your problem is excess friction in the system, probably in the housing between the bars and frame.

Thank you! That is something that I had not considered.

Did you put your shifter and derailleur in the lowest gear (slackest cable) before attaching the shift wire? Is the shift wire routed correctly? Many Shimano front derailleurs have a non-intuitive routing where the wire goes OVER the little tab then under the clamp screw.

Yes, the shifter was set to the lowest gear. The cable was routed correctly too. Routing the cable is a strange affair, but I am used to it..

I have pulled the cable too tight before clamping and had the identical problem. (I used to pull the cable snug with a pair of pliers)
I have no idea what shifters etc. you have, but if you have a cable adjuster on it, back out the adjuster 1 turn so that you can add a bit of slack to the cable if needed.

You might also try backing out the L screw another 1/8 turn or so.

Thank you. I will check this out as well. The derraileur is a Shiman Tourney, and the shifters are Shimano rapidfies.