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I don't know what year my old bike is.(like is it a 1970's etc). I think it may be a 1970's, or something like that due to research but I'm still not sure. I know it's a French old make, I believe Ravenna. But what year is this bike?

enter image description here

Batman
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Tianne G
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  • I think it's unrealistic to date this bike from this photo alone down to the exact year. And why would that be important? – Christian Lindig Apr 08 '17 at 16:23
  • "I think it's unrealistic to date this bike from this photo alone down to the exact year. And why would that be important? – Christian eh, I was just wondering you know? Just thought it would be interesting if someone could maybe determine at least around the time the bike was made. Just posted this for some fun you know, to see if I can grab some quick info. @ChristianLindig – Tianne G Apr 08 '17 at 17:01
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    The cottered crank makes it earlier than about 1975. Other than that, though, it's hard to say, could be from the 50s or 60s. But one might find a matching image on a site that specialized in folding bikes. – Daniel R Hicks Apr 08 '17 at 20:50
  • (I'll note that the cotters appear to be installed incorrectly, causing the cranks to not be 180 degrees apart.) – Daniel R Hicks Apr 18 '17 at 12:03
  • What do all the labels and stickers say? – Nate W Apr 18 '17 at 14:41

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It's really easy to do but it's not very reliable either.

Since you got some good old 550 chrome wheels and it's french maybe they come from Rigida. Thing is, Rigida wheels where, at the time, stamped with their fabrication year which you will find inside a little losange.

Other way is to go for the hub. Some manufacturers like Normandy also dated their production by engraving the year (you got two numbers and have to look at the second one which is the two last digits of the year).

So assuming that the wheels are the original ones, that's your best bet to date your bike.

From instinct I would say that it's a late 70's bike and from the tubing it could be italian more than french but here I can be wrong.

Rémi Nazin
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