Triple Front Derailleur Problem
 

I'm not the world's greatest bike mechanic but I like to figure things out. I have a triple that's been shifting fine. A few rides ago it was a bit hesitant shifting onto the small chainring. Today it refused to shift to the small ring at all. Back home in the repair stand I shifted to the small ring position and noticed that the cable went slack but the derailleur didn't move any further inboard. So it seems this is not a cable problem?

Trigger shifters on a recumbent. SRAM system.
Ideas?

Can you push the derailleur cage in by hand? Is something blocking it? When the derailleur stays by the middle ring is there any noise, any rubbing, setting in?

After checking the above, check for mechanical damage to the FD--cage bent, or spun on the seat tube (or equivalent mounting area on your 'bent).

Then try loosening the low limit screw 1/4 turn at a time.

If that doesn't do it, start from scratch and do the whole procedure shown in the Park Tools site, without skipping a step. Hopefully you have a stand for this.

Problem solved. The derailleur was gunked up. A couple of baths withTri-Flow and it's working fine.

That's pretty amazing- the front derailleur on a Gold Rush is well shielded from road dirt. Did you just not clean it for a couple years?

Most bike owners do not even shift. We are here a few grades above the basics.

Probably 2 things going on here. I haven't been routinely lubing the pivot points and also I live in a flat area. The only times I use the small chainring is on overpasses.

So now I'll be using the Tri-Flow monthly and shifting into the small ring on a regular basis.

Thanks for the help. You for sure helped me sniff out the solution!!

Just a word of caution: Lube on pivots is good, but overdoing it will allow the grit to accumulate in dry, dusty conditions. There's a balance there somewhere.