The myth all stems from the confirmed stories of team mechanic, Jan le Grand, arriving at the SBDU in Ilkeston late in the year with the sizes and details of the riders and TI-Raleigh bikes for the following year… but that was late 70s and early 1980s, and with later Raleigh team bikes, we really have no idea or confirmed stories of when a team bike was built. RALEIGH FRAME NUMBER DATING. So much information is user generated and doesn’t come from original or confirmed sources. What I do know for sure is that Nottingham production did not match the quantities that came out of Ilkeston. This isn’t intended to be an Internet resource of Raleigh frame numbers! Note that the serial number information below is fragmentary and incomplete, and many bikes have proven to be much newer than the serial numbers would suggest. As a non-profit, we rely on your support Select an amount (in USD) $5 $15 $25 $50 $100 $200 $500 $ No donation Everybody says they'e going to record their serial number eventually, but if your bike gets stolen before you do and the cops recover it, you'll be really disappointed when you can't get it back because you can't prove it's yours. The SB frame number was always stamped on the BB shell. Before they even leave the factory, each bike is given a unique birthmark on the bottom bracket. The same ‘SB’ prefix for the SBDU frames from Ilkeston was retained and used at Nottingham; the numbers continued in sequence from the mid 8000s. This is followed by another alphabet. At this point, these appear to be some sort of sequence, but this has not been substantiated. 1956: 23839 A 1957: 27227 AB 1958: 17910 AD 1960: 27273 AE 1961: 13126 AF 1965/6: 40814 FD 1966: 64521 FE. So using what we have, this is the format…, According to online chat, this numbering format started in 1990 and appears to have ended at 1999/2000. However, the ‘W’ is all I’m interested in here. I’ve mentioned a few times about how difficult it is to fit SB frame numbers into a timeline following the relocation to Nottingham as there just aren’t enough bikes. I'd look at Raleigh catalogues (you can find these online) from say 88-94, but I'd guess this is a 90-92. The style of Reynolds 753 frame transfer is also appropriate for 1988 before the simpler transfer re-design in 1989. The first letter of this numbering system will correspond to the location the frame was built. The Rolex serial number is sequential from 1926 through the middle of 1987, and you can look up the production year in a reference table. If there really is a reason why you need to know more than the year a frame was built then the second section should help. RALEIGH SERIAL NUMBER DATES: After the war, Raleigh began adding letters after the running number series which restarted when a new letter was used. A 1981 frame could be either Worksop or the Lightweight Unit depending on how far through the year it was built. 80s bikes probably used braze on gear levers, Some 70s bikes with braze on brake cable guides route the rear brake cable along the RH side of the top tube whereas most 80s bikes will route the cable along the top or LH side, Rear OLN size on a 70s frame may be 120mm for 5 speed/compact 6 speed. Colin Bike recovered 2019.9.30. May 29, 2014  Hi folks, first post as I happened by a rough old Raleigh today which I decided to adopt. AGE / VALUE: serial # id help. What length of time is a production period? But before I get to the SC numbers, it’s worthwhile looking at the probable end of the original SB reference. Note how I used that word ‘accepted‘ again. The same thinking exists for some with Ilkeston SBDU and Nottingham SBDU. Caveat; there is no confirmed evidence for the next couple of sections, it is all based on trends I’ve seen in the SB numbering system and actual bikes and frame numbers that I have viewed. '4' could be '74 or '84; it is up to the interpretor to know enough to tell if the frame is from the 70's or 80's). Was the SBW reference something that was used during an SBDU/Lightweight Unit transition into Special Products Division? Reynolds 531) frames, and involved the placing of a character at the beginning of the serial number. The SBDU is no different and there are no build records unless you are an owner who is lucky enough to have the original build and receipt documents for your frame. The serial number will be engraved underneath the bottom bracket shell on the frame. BikeChecker is a FREE service for people purchasing a second-hand bike, which allows you to check that the bike is not listed as stolen on the BikeRegister Database. There is no real conclusive evidence of what the SC number system was or even when it was started. So, turn your bike around and look for the spot where the two pedal cranks join. My own SB9529 which is a DYNA-TECH lo-pro frame, is an example of the sequence returning back to the standard ‘SB’ format (with the smaller Special Products stamp style). Write something about yourself. I got the bike back in less than 48 hours of it being stolen! Look under the bottom bracket for the serial number on a Raleigh International vintage road bike frame. Serial numbers should begin with a 'W', which stands for Worksop, the facility that produced theses frames. It also looks to be a decently made frame--is the tubing oversize or standard? Some of the features I look for to determine the difference between the 70s and 80s are…. Finding a bicycle serial number. Raleigh America 6004 South 190th Street, Suite 101 Kent, WA 98032 We’re happy to help answer your questions! However, if you look at a later 1990 Lightweight catalogue (below), Raleigh have mentioned their ‘Lightweights Division’ and go on to say the same thing, “Every lightweight racing cycle is hand built by our Lightweight Division craftsmen”. The serial number is located on the underside of the frame where the pedals and crank arms attach. Do SB numbers run higher than SB9999? And that's it! An example of a later 1980s team frame is the late David Rayner’s Raleigh Banana team bike. Likewise, of all the Nottingham Lightweight Unit frames I have seen have been of a comparable quality to Worksop. A woman who lives in the same area had her car stolen. Most people who are seeking to date their frame will probably just need to know the year so that they can find the appropriate catalogue and see a period correct spec and colour scheme. AGE / VALUE: Sheldon Brown. Sep 07, 2008 Note that the serial number information below is fragmentary and incomplete, and many bikes have proven to be much newer than the serial numbers would suggest. These different sources have conflicting information regarding the actual period in which the ‘W’ reference started; while some say it was late 1973, others say 1974. Worksop and Ilkeston are steeped in history and unfortunately Nottingham SBDU and Lightweight Unit frames seem to be placed in a lower class. And now you've got your serial number in your phone and the cloud so you can't lose it. Note: While this numbering scheme is generally true, there may have been some crossover use of letters at the beginning/end of each year (e.g. Enter your numbers in the squares, finishing with the Powerball in the final box. Nottingham production started well in 1987 but soon tailed off. Check Money Order Status. Some owners who have a 1981 ‘W’ reference bike (the year that production moved) may like to know if their frame was Worksop or Nottingham built. I’ll also cover a little on ‘SBW’ numbers and ‘SC’ numbers. Regardless of the duel terminology, I’m going to go with the January 1989 reference being correct, I can’t see Raleigh using such a specific term as Special Products Division if it didn’t exist. So I’ll start with the ‘W’ reference originating from Worksop, before moving onto the SBDU ‘SB’ reference and then the Special Products system. Maybe the SB was continued to differentiate ‘specials’ against the standard Special Products models in the same way that the ‘W’ differentiated between Lightweight Unit and Nottingham’s standard bikes. One major reason, aside from warranty information, is that you want this to check for recalls with the serial and model numbers. These ‘SC’ referenced frames are all in the SC1000 – SC1200 range. Seriously. NOTE: Physical bike frame features are much better to use for frame dating rather than paint and transfers. Mk1 and Mk2 Raleigh Mag Burner Side by Side. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Based on other frames from around the same period, I’m placing SB9000 towards the mid to later part of 1988. Get out your phone, snap a photo, and email it to yourself. Raleigh Serial Numbers & Charts. Write something about yourself. Enter a frame number or unique BikeRegister ID below, and click on the magnifying glass. Detail about the numerals that follow the alphabet are sketchy, and are presumably sequential serial numbers of some kind. The majority of serial numbers are located under the bottom bracket where the two pedal cranks meet. Serial numbers should begin with a "W", which stands for Worksop, the facility that produced these frames. This leaves those frames built in 1981, the year Worksop closed and the Lightweight Unit opened. Although the explosion of social media has meant that there are numerous Facebook groups and internet forums where information is given, I frequently see this quite simple topic explained or interpreted incorrectly over and over again. RALEIGH SERIAL NUMBER DATES: After the war, Raleigh began adding letters after the running number series which restarted when a new letter was used. the amount of frames produced per month at any location? Even the most used and shared ‘W’ reference information carries no official Raleigh endorsement, letterhead, reference, code or date. I really don’t like assuming facts, those two words don’t sit well together, you can’t assume a fact, a fact has to be correct and proved, not assumed. So far, I have few SBW numbered frames recorded between (approx) SB9100 and SB9300. The only thing to note is that the newly opened Lightweight Unit continued to use the ‘W’ prefix. My best advice would be to ignore them. Who wrote it.? So I have to look at data and physical evidence to see if I can spot how and when things changed and progressed. If you have a ‘0’, a ‘1’ or a ‘2’ then that can only be 1980, 1981 or 1982 because this system did not run in the early 70s or early 90s. In 1974, an entirely different numbering system was introduced for the higher end (531 and subsequently 753) Raleighs. There is a common myth that all team bikes are built at the end of the year in readiness for the upcoming season; this means that a bike stamped ’89’ was actually built in 1988, and a bike stamped ’90’ would have been built at the end of 1989. But with later teams, it is impossible to know when they were built, some bikes could well have been built early in the season. This system ran from 1973 to 1989 meaning that the ‘6’ can be either 1976 or 1986. This bike is duel stamped with SB9057 and DR.60 1 89 (Initials, size, bike number, year). What then follows is a series of numbers. The ‘W’ reference frame number was still being used in 1989, the latest ‘W’ reference frame I have seen to date is a mid year 1989 frame; there may be later frames, I just haven’t seen one yet. The 4 separate sections of the frame number are…. Be careful using components to date your frame; components can easily be replaced and give a false impression of the age of a bike. If you are reading this for anything other than SB number sequences from the SBDU then please make sure you corroborate my information with other resources. The lack of information really makes the late 1980s/early 1990s period difficult to understand in terms of top end Raleigh frame production. A VIN number check can reveal problems with the car and is a must in situations where you are considering purchasing a previously owned vehicle. Recalls Recall information can be found on our Recall page. Your bike is one-of-a-kind, and not just because you've spent countless rides getting everything perfectly dialed in. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. Select 'Add Line' to check another set of numbers. If you really want to know which part of the year your frame was built and therefore, which unit produced it, then the 2nd letter of the frame number is meant to correspond to the month of production. Serial is printed on the vertical frame post just … That text seems very clear and Special Products Division gets a mention a total of four times in just that small snippet. There are people who will rate a Worksop built frame over a Nottingham Lightweight Unit frame. If it had been built in 1986 it would still have the ‘W’ prefix but would have been built at the Lightweight Unit. SBDU Ilkeston and Nottingham larger stamp size… approx 5mm digit height. In my opinion, this was to differentiate between the output of the new Lightweight Unit and the standard frames already produced at Nottingham and carrying the ‘N’ prefix. And now that you've got that hot new serial number burning a hole in your pocket, why not take a second to register your bike? I always keep an eye on this system and also receive regular emails about it so I’m sure my data will grow soon and I’ll be able to add more concrete detail to this. No need to be fancy, just an overview. In the same year, mudguards received a forward extension. If there is no serial number near the cranks, you should check other common places including the front headset or rear stays. The SBDU at Nottingham started as a separate unit to the existing Lightweight Unit which was created in 1981. There are many different opinions about what they are meant to define. I don’t think there is a known official reason for this continuation, and there are a few that think the SB numbering should have ceased with the end of Ilkeston, not me though. With the TI-Raleigh team, which often totalled around 18 riders, and with some of these riders having 4 or more bikes, it amounts to a lot of bikes and a lot of work to prep and build them, so starting well in advance makes sense. The proof for this numbering system has been entirely generated by owners confirming, from memory, the date or purchase and associating that date to this system. Because these are just my thoughts, I might ramble on a lot so please forgive me if this makes little or no sense, as I said, it really is just a basic layout of my thoughts at the moment. The ‘W’ reference was stamped reading across the BB shell from one face of the shell to the other. It is accepted because I have never seen a confirmed Raleigh endorsed, branded, coded or dated document. It is accepted that there were 12 letters used to denote each month. The only source of information I’ve seen on this new numbering system was posted as a comment on an online forum. For example, a Brompton uses YYMMXXX as their serial code, so a Brompton with a serial number of 1306 123456 was manufactured in. Check a bike. AGE / VALUE: Serial Numbers for Motobecane. The only numbers I’m confident about are the Specialist Bicycle Development Unit (SBDU) SB frame numbers at Ilkeston. Raleigh Professional Serial Numbers First things first, where do you find your bike's magic number? This means that the Special Products timeline seems to tie in with the same period as the launch of the DYNA-TECH range, first seen in the 1990 catalogue; the 1989 catalogue only displays a range of steel framed bikes; the DYNA-TECH technology was being tested by the Raleigh team during the same ’89 year. Several online resources contain errors or assumptions. Raleigh Serial Font: All SoftMaker webfonts come with at least 500,000 pageviews included. Following this small diversion of SBW numbers, the sequence reverts back to just using the ‘SB’ reference. Times were changing in the custom steel frame building market, things were getting tough for lots of classic builders, my own shop stopped their own frame building in the late 1980s. This extract is a great source of information because it’s not only produced by and marked as Raleigh, it is also dated to October 1987. AGE / VALUE: serial number locations. At the beginning of the post I mentioned that some aspects of this would be my thoughts, me just thinking out loud while still trying to formulate and prove things in my head. Canadian Police Information Centre where the public can search the CPIC database to see if a motor vehicle or bicycle has been reported stolen. Remember that a name is just a name, and anyone, even Ilkeston and Worksop can produce a bad frame. Sometime's there's a sticker over it, sometimes it's covered in road dirt, but it'll be there! AGE / VALUE: serial numbers. Like a fingerprint, that number's the key to identifying your bike and getting it back if it ever goes missing. Some resources mention the move in 1986 and some refer to 1987 and the way my timeline has worked out, it seems to have been the period between the two years, it could have been the end of 86 or the start of 87. Rad Power bikes have their serial number on the head tube. What might happen, however, is that there’s no serial number there. The keen eyed however will notice that the frame number timeline I gave earlier for Special Products starts with ‘A’ at 1990 and not 1989. SBW Numbers and Raleigh Special Products SB smaller stamp size… approx 3mm digit height. For now, it should be assumed that the Choppers' serial system is separate (until proven otherwise). Because the SB number is very close to my own SB9000, I would place this frame at late 1988 built for the 1989 season. A brief example of those numbers are listed in the table above. MY NOTES: 1.The Raleigh Heron Head transfer was introduced in 1908. It has been a few years since I wrote this timeline and it has so far stood up to every frame I’ve seen or been sent. That'll help ensure that thieves have a harder time selling your bike if it's stolen, and give the cops some ammo if they have to go looking for your missing ride. This catalogue is dated January 1989. Different materials were emerging and mail order was offering massive price savings; it was a few years since Raleigh had a major continental team, and if the SBDU were getting fewer orders, the misconception that they had closed their doors at Ilkeston certainly wouldn’t have helped. In other words, though not all bicycles are represented with an on line serial number data base, some are. Note that the serial number information below is fragmentary and incomplete, and many bikes have proven to be much newer than the serial numbers would suggest. Easy! There is a precedent here and maybe it is a similar story to the ‘W’ reference which was continued past the closure of Worksop. The 1973 start date, although not proven with any documentation as far as I am aware, seems to be an accurate piece of data, and because of this, it is becoming the accepted date. This is how some of the SBW numbers fit into a small selection of SB numbers in the 1988 to 1996 period. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. Once you have located the frame number, make a note of it and then decifer it using the below code. Hopefully it never comes down to that, but if it does you'll be happy you've got all the important bits written down. These SBW frames continue in the same number sequence as SB frames, and judging by their frame design, they are the same date period, the difference is that they have an added ‘W’ on the ‘SB’ prefix. The size and style of the SC stamp is exactly the same as the size of the smaller font ‘SB’ stamp used by Raleigh Special Products Division from 1990 onward; it is also stamped in the same location along the edge of the BB shell. the raleigh bike vintage. What frames are covered in that period? From my experience though, especially with the SBDU frames, there is a similar build quality between the two locations of the SBDU. The opening of the new Lightweight Unit was date referenced in a Spring 1982 Raleigh catalogue…, The opening was also reported in November 1981…, The continuation of the ‘W’ reference at the Lightweight Unit means that…. So is it ‘Special Products Division‘ or ‘Lightweight Division‘, or did Raleigh just like to mix up their own terms just to confuse everyone in this period? There are no hidden codes or sections in an SB frame number, there is no code for month of production or any indication of periodic production numbers – the SB number is just a sequential number starting from SB1. raleigh chopper frame number location. Now that you've got your serial number recorded (in several redundant systems), you can focus on the important things - like riding. The new system involved a second running letter, added to the first, which began at the start of the alphabet. The Dura-Ace 7700 components used on these bikes also date to 1996/97. But what exactly does that mean? Raleigh also made a lot of use of the term “Our policy of continual improvement means that product specification and appearance may be changed while this catalogue is still in use“, meaning that even once you have dated your frame, some Raleigh bikes, specifications and colours are really hard to trace through their own catalogues. It is slightly confusing and has meant that some believe Worksop production extended past 1981. the amount of a specific model produced in a month or year period? Cobb accessport v3. The snippet also ties in well with 1989 and the relaunch of Reynolds tubes and frame transfers by displaying the new format and simplified Reynolds 653 frame transfer for their Record Ace Moderne. Therefore, if ‘I’ was omitted, the remaining sequence after 1997 would be…, If ‘I’ was used then the remaining sequence after 1997 would be…. Here are some examples of where and what to look for: Dating an SBDU Nottingham frame is difficult. Most bicycles have their serial number engraved beneath their bottom bracket, but sometimes serial numbers are found in other places. Was it that the SB number system reached SB9999 and Raleigh simply changed the prefix to SC to start the sequential numbering again? There were a few existing attempts at timelines floating around the internet but they didn’t seem to have any fundamental backing to their facts, they were simply a multiplication of numbers per year. However, it shows that everyone can make mistakes and you should always fact check information, even officially endorsed information… the Panasonic frame in this leaflet is not a Services des Courses frame as indicated in the text; it appears to have a Prugnat seat lug and the fastback seat stay design. The SB frame number continued to be stamped along the edge of the BB shell and often, but not always, had the corresponding number (without the SB prefix) on the fork column. This is now that part of the blog. These year numbers are meant to denote the racing season the bike was built for, so again, these dates tie in with the period I’m writing about. Raleigh, is the first that comes to mind but others are available. Maybe write it down on a business card and put it in your wallet too - just in case. What on earth is an SC number? Raleigh Serial Number Lookup 12/28/2019 Think serial says G113991 but can;t figure out from the various sites what that is. AGE / VALUE: Shimano 333 hubs Even though it is well documented in other sources, I’m including TI-Raleigh’s Worksop Carlton facility and the subsequent Nottingham Lightweight Unit in this post because of the numerous requests I receive for advice on dating these bikes. When the system started in 1973 the ‘W’ referenced Worksop. Most of these SC frames are Tig Welded Reynolds 853 frames with a straight blade fork, while others are Titanium frames. the amount of each and every model in a month or year period? This happened for most builders at some point during 1979/1980 which makes it the very first thing I check, Another clue could be standard nutted brakes or later recessed allen key brakes, If paint and transfers are original then Reynolds frame transfers for 531 frames can be used for dating, they were very different between the 70s and 80s.
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