Front derailleur doesn't seem to be moving I'm trying to troubleshoot my 24 speed hybrid bike.  As it was, the front shifter was having very little effect. I would change gears and not much would happen.

When I had a chance to look at it, I noticed that the derailleur seemed to be barely moving when I shifted from 3rd to 2nd, and not at all from 2nd to 1st. I tried a few troubleshooting steps to tighten, loosen the cable, but nothing seemed to help.

Now I have completely disconnected the shifter cable and the derailleur is sitting in between 3rd and 2nd gear.

I'm wondering if that's normal resting place, and if it's reasonable to see very little movement when shifting like that.
There are basically 4 possibilities:


The derailer is bent.
The derailer is gummed up, has mud in it, or is otherwise being prevented from moving.  (You said the cable has been completely loosened, right?)
The limit screws are misadjusted
It's the wrong derailer for that gear setup.  Eg, a double derailer on a triple crank.


(It is curious that the decal says "8 speed" -- not something you'd expect as original equipment on a 27 speed bike.)

(It appears to be a down-pull style derailer, and it should center over the granny gear when the cable is fully released.)