Front derailer not moving
 

please post fairly close pics of the shifter and derailleur, as they are when hooked up, ok?

Sounds like the cable is routed incorrectly, can't tell without pictures.

What gear/position was your shifter switched to when you "held the cable tight and tightened the bolt"?

I put the cable through again and that seems to help. Now it moves very little, the derailer when shifting to 3rd gear and down to 2nd gear. It stays in the first gear the whole time.
I have it in the highest gear, third, when installing the cable. Thats the smallest cog, thats the highest gear right? I was confused by that
Im not sure but I think I have to adjust the h and l screws right?
Thanks guys, I appreciate the help!!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9b69910de4.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f471670df1.jpg

I'm assuming that the derailleur actually moves?As in - you can move it through its range of motion by hand. After it's all hooked up, when you move the shift lever, does the cable tighten up?

Yes it moves. And now it moves very slightly when shifting. Also yes the cable tightens when shifting in higher gear.

First clean and lube the derailleur pivots

You might need to adjust the H and L screws later on but that isn’t causing this. If it moves by hand then those are already out of the way.

1. Remove the kickstand. The aluminum in the frame tubing is too soft a metal to withstand the clamping force from a kickstand. If the tubing hasn't yet cracked from the force of the kickstand clamp:

2. Lubricate all contact points in the cable's path (including the groove the cable runs through under the bottom bracket) and the rusty-looking pivots in the front derailleur.

Note: it looks as though that frame has a welded-on flat plate under the two tubes that the kickstand is clamped onto. If so, remove the top kickstand plate and bolt the kickstand to that welded-on bottom plate (using a metric socket of the correct size). Be sure to grease the threads of the bolt to get sufficient clamping force (and insert a washer under the bolt head if it's missing).

Check to see if your cable is properly seated at derailleur lever . Sometimes it can get hung up and cause this problem. I find when I have these issues I pull the cable and start the process over. checking step by step. It usually solves the problem. If the derailleur moves by hand you should be able to adjust it. Stretch your cables. Lots of info on You tube.

“brake” lever.

Trakhak what would you lube that cable with which won’t attract too much filth?

The type of lube isn't exactly mission-critical, as long as the cable path is cleaned and relubed from time to time.

If the frame has a grooved plastic fitting under the bottom bracket, it could be left unlubed, as long as the cable route is cleaned from time to time, but it does no harm to lube it there.

"gear" lever.

"3rd Gear" is the Biggest chain ring.
"1" is Low(smallest) gear, 3 is High(largest) gear, on a Crankset.
The opposite is true about the rear gears on a bike.. the Smallest cog is "High Gear", the largest is 1st/Low Gear.
Shift the Shifter To "1" while PULLING on the cable(this will prevent the cable from getting bent inside the shifter), THEN set the cable while the derailleur is aligned with the Smallest Chain ring, and the chain is On The Smallest Chain Ring....

Are you turning the crank when you shift?

It looks like the plate on the cable anchor is backwards; the tabs (or ears if you prefer) usually face toward the body of the derailleur.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...78cadb5aee.png

nope, not on that derailleur.
it's as it should be.

haha. True.

Does it not move because it is incapable of moving, or because the cable can't move, or does the cable move but not the derailleur?

Here's my suggestion. Disconnect the cable. Remove the derailleur from the bike. Clean and lubricate the parts that move.Then instead of playing 21 questions, familiarize yourself with everything on this page that involves mechanical front derailleurs--installation, cables, and adjustment. It beats trying to fix something without having the faintest idea of how it works. https://www.parktool.com/en-us/blog/...?area%5B%5D=52

Thanks for all your replies. After readjusting the barrel adjuster and the cable, I have it shifting much better. I still need to work on the limit screws cause it rubs the cage and isn't shifting smoothly.

Change out the cables and housing. I suspect you have corrosion inside the housing considering the level of rust evident on the derailer.

The bike mechanic who installed my bike left these parts, under the frame and the back wheel without housing. You think there is a reason why, I figured this should be covered since it will get dirty.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0b38aa1ff9.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e43c09a34b.jpg

Perfecty normal and functional and the way cables were routed for decades before the current internal cable routing which is very common now. I'll take the old external routing any day over internal routing as it's so much easier to work on and usually functions better due to less drag from extra bends and surface contacts.

Neither of those pictures are of an abnormal cable run. The cables on many bikes…probably the vast majority…run under the bottom bracket without cable housing. Many more modern bikes do run cable from the shifter to the derailer but that is a smaller percentage than bare cable runs.

Both of those cables look slack. The cable below is standing too far away from the frame. Moving the shifter is only going to take up cable slack but not result in any kind of derailer movement. You are going to need to pull up the slack on the cable for it to work properly.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d523a69df.jpeg

The rear is equally loose. The ferule should sit in the frame tighter and the inner cable shouldn’t be hanging that loose.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...643bca314.jpeg

The front derailer cable will be tighter than the rear but neither should be too tight. The front is closer to guitar string tight but the rear should have a bit of twang to it when in the smallest cog on the rear.