Originally Posted by smd4

If you mean was coiled cable used for derailleurs, that's how I remember it. You can still find some images using it (below). It wasn't until later that the "SIS" compressionless cable with linear wires came along (which, in a twist, some of us now use for brakes). Back then, we didn't have long lengths of shift cable exiting our brake levers. The 10 or 12 inches of coiled cable at the derailleur didn't compress enough to cause any great loss in shifting accuracy.



You can still find some NOS with coiled cable housing: