I’ve set my front mech up exactly as described on all the usual websites. Can’t get it to shift down to the middle ring, it just skips from 3 to 1.

It’s an X5 mech and X7 shifter.

Is your shifter a triple and not a double?

You will have too much cable tension, try less tension.

What he said. Try setting the tension so the cable has a little slack when resting in the inner position.

shifter is a tripple. I’ve tried slackening off the cable. There are no kinks in the outer (all new), I thought it was my X5 shifter, so fitted a (new) X7 shifter that was kicking around, nothing.

Not impossible that both my old shifter and new one are worn/faulty. Should I try another shifter?

Thought it might be the mech, but there’s nothing too them really, and it’s free enough.

Took it to the LBS, he had a minor fiddle and realised that it was shifting in to the big ring without the lever clicking in to the 3rd position. (so it was in ring 3 but lever position 2).

Just had to push the lever a bit further when shifting to 3.. sorted free of charge.

Got it home again, and it’s still doing it!!! 😥

How does it sit when it’s in ring 3 and position 3 on the shifter?If OK I think you need to have a play with the indexing on the shifter.

If not sitting well on the 3rd ring, sort out the limit screw first and then look at the indexing.

Limit screws are set so the relevant cages clear the chain by 1mm.

I’ve set the tension with my hand with the chain in the small front ring, and the index screw half way out.

If I play with the index screw I can get it skipping middle ring on the way down or not going from small to middle… Nothing in between

Looks to me like you’ve routed the cable incorrectly, I may be wrong, and it’s difficult to see properly in the photo, but I think it’s supposed to go over the lug that’s to the outside of the clamp rather than alongside it.