From the "it's late and I should get some sleep, but I was just tinkering in the garage and wondered about this" files...

I just pulled the old cables from a 1969 Raleigh Competition. They did this.



Have you seen that? Yeah, I know steel likes to keep its shape, but that's some serious persistence even if the previous owner replaced the cables before flipping the bike.

Also, have you ever seen Brompton-branded handlebars on a non-folding bike? Maybe it's just an oddly chosen sticker, but it was under the bar tape.

Seen it a couple of times and do you know what causes it?

When you pull the transmission cable through the shifters, allowing the cable to go around the curve of the shifter, as you pull, then the cable will be warped every time. To avoid, make sure that you are pulling the cable through a hole ONLY. Do not allow the cable to pull through the hole and around the shifter barrel.

Can't offer any information about the bars, though.

+1

It's similar to the action that's used to curl parcel ribbons.

Brampton with an "a". English components from the golden era of bikes.

There were also Brampton 3-speed hubs, similar to Sturmey Archer.

Wire was coiled on a big spool at the cable mill .. coiled again for packaging , to sell in the store..
[FWIW, just uncoiled a new 1, it laid flat ]

The bulk reels are a bigger diameter ...




..

Uhmmm.......If they are long enough and rust free, that would not stop me from reusing them.....
especially as older brakesets have move stiffer springs on their calipers, compared to modern ones so you might not even notice the difference at the levers....
I bet you can hang them and run them through your fingers while pulling down a few times to "massage" out most of the coiling out of them....

​​​

"Made in Bramptan, England"

Everyone wants to correct my wool Carlton jersey. Clearly I meant "Works(h)op"?

Ah, the English. Leicaster is pronounced Lester. All those extra letters hanging on for the ride.

They're shift cables and feel a bit sticky. I'm willing to splurge for new cables. The short one with the more orderly coil will make a nice garage shelf decoration.

Brampton, Bramptan? I seem to recall being taught that a cursive 'o' exits at the top of the letter, but apparently the folks in Brampton thought the main difference was that an 'a' is slightly wider.

Also...

I suspect those cables are trying to twist themselves into a message of some sort. You need to be able to read cursive, however, to understand.