Bicycle Frame Serial Number

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Most models of Cannondale bicycles have the serial number located at the very bottom of the frame, underneath the bottom bracket -- the part of the bicycle where the.

Welcome to the unofficial Vintage-Trek bicycle web site. This is a noncommercial, just-for-fun, hobbyist site. The primary purpose of this site is to gather.

Between the early 1970 s and the 1990 s FUJI utilized five unique Serial Number Formats. Each Format contains units from the following elements.

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The second number is the last digit of the year, 6, 7, 8, 9 for 197X and 0 for 1980. See note below, , for year exceptions. Again, this is the date of serializing, not necessarily model year. The last three characters - The final letter ranges from A to Z and the final two numbers go from 01 to 99. The last letter might be a run designation, with the last two numerals the frame number in that run. Alternatively, the letter extends the range of the character from 0 to 9 if a number to 1 to 26. This gives a range of 2600 for the 3 characters. Any other ideas for these last three characters. The rest of the code defines time to a month. Perhaps once Trek was nearing more than 2600 bikes/frames of a given model per month, a new serial number scheme needed to be developed. Hence the change to the sequential system that was started in late 1980. Notes:

There is no Model 310 in the brochures on the site; however, a frame has been reported that has Ishiwata high tensile double butted main tubes with the SN A4F9H67. It has touring length chainstays. According the the SN, it apparently was made in June 1979, after the TX300 is no longer in the brochures, but no similar frame is listed. Another small mystery; for now we ll call it a 310.

One interesting variant of the SN code has been submitted. It has a leading B and has eight characters instead of the usual 7 B4K6B109. It has SunTour dropouts, and had a partial tubing sticker that included the text TENSION BUTTED. The date from the SN is Nov. 76. Probably a TX200 with an extra character in the SN.

Several frames with a leading serial letter of G have been reported with Columbus tubing stickers. TX700 frames were available as special order, with Columbus tubing instead of the specified Reynolds 531. These bikes were designated as Model TX770. However, this model did not appear in any of the Trek brochures on this site.

Year Exceptions:

A. Serial numbers beginning with M or N 41X and 61X bikes or frames seem to have a different meaning for what normally is the year digit. The year digit is the fourth character in the number. In the 50 M and N serial numbers that have been sent in by owners, the year numbers go from 0 through 9. The remaining part of the serial numbers seem normal. According to the brochures, Trek did not make 41X and 61X bikes or frames during 76, 77, 78, and 79 and also not in 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, or 89. These serial numbers apparently do not follow the year convention used for other Trek models. It is likely these frames, SNs beginning with M or N Models 41x and 61X, were contracted out or were made in a separate Trek facility, and were given the old serial number form so as not to interfere with the sequential numbers being assigned by Trek in their main shop, which began in late 1980. This variation to the SN system may have been done to extend the numbering system. By using the fourth character as an extension of the last three, the serial numbers could be extended from 2600 possible combinations to 26,000 for a given month. For M and N leading serial numbers, if the TREK letters on the seattube have no colorwrap behind, the bike is from 1980 or perhaps 1981. If it has a colorwrap, the bike is probably from 1982. B. Serial numbers for four model 510 frames with a leading F have been reported that have similar unexpected year dates. Our thanks to Rich Ferguson, Fred Gomez, and Chris Tank. The fourth characters are 2, 3, 4, and 5, there may be more. The frames have the early TREK graphics on the seattube. These frames may be related to the M and N leading serial number bikes in the section above. C. One early TX700 leading G, an evaluation frame sent to a bike shop, had a 4 in the year digit. Another impossible year code. This 4 may signify an evaluation unit. D. Trek used this form of serial number leading O oh for their custom-made 950 frames. The production non-custom frames were numbered using the late 1980 to 1986 system described below. Three leading O 950 frames have been reported that contain unlikely year codes of 5, 6 and 7. Model 950 frames were not made in 1975, 76, or 77, but only in 1980, 81, or 82, according to the brochures. Another 950 frame was reported with a 0 zero in the year code, but was painted as a 1982. From the geometries, they all appear to be custom frames. When a Trek frame was repainted by Trek, an additional set of numerals was often stamped into the bottom bracket to indicate the frame was repainted. These numbers were usually four digits, in the form NNNN. LATE 1980 TO LATE 1986

Late in 1980, Trek changed to a new numbering system for their frames built in the U.S. The frames were numbered sequentially, beginning with number 000001. The record of the assembly runs was documented in a handwritten journal. Trek Kevin Tita graciously provided a copy of the journal for this web site. The list ended in November of 1986 with number 279975. This serial number system actually extended through at least 1997 see Table II below.

The journal includes run number, model number, frame size, and serial number range. Incidental information, including dates and comments on the frames, appears sporadically through the journal. A run was for a particular frame size and frame model. We all owe thanks to Luker White who generously donated his time to convert much of the paper list to digital form. These data were mined to produce bike production by model for each calendar year. The results can be seen on the Trek Bike Production by Model, Late 1980 through 1986 page. Click on the date link in Table I below to go to the detailed serial number information for that year. Table I - 1980 to 1986

Year.

Trek bicycle frame serial numbers SNs are stamped into the bottom of the bottom bracket, or more rarely at the lower end of the seat tube. The dates coded in the.

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