When did Sturmey Archer triggers start to appear mounted to the handlebars rather than on the top tube?

Question

The older ones use no cable housing and use a pulley to get it to the trigger mounted onto the top tube, but this was eventually replaced with the cable that went to the handlebars. What I want to know is, when did the top-tube mounted triggers disappear? I am trying to restore a vintage bicycle and am not sure which setup would be the most accurate.

Answer 1

From the very beginning they were handlebar mounted, as you can see in this 1904 advertisement :

http://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/de...

Sturmey Archer history -

http://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/

Edit :

If you go through the very interesting history pages, on the above site, and check out the various advert's, you might be able to find one comparable to the bike you are restoring, but it does seem that the choice of mounting was optional.