Adjusting Gear Actuation I recently brought a second hand bike with Shimano Deore gears on it and  when I switch up a gear on the chain-ring it requires a significant amount of actuation pressure on the 'flappy' paddle  (almost reaches travel limit before changes).

I was wondering how I should adjust this to reduce actuation pressure?
I'm not sure what you're comparing the effort to, but typically the front derailleur requires more cable pull to actuate, in comparison to shifting in the rear.

Adjusting Shimano Front Derailleurs

Adjusting Shimano Rear Derailleurs

It could be that you need a bit of slack removed from the cable, but without photos, it's hard to say.

Front shifting explained