I have a road bike frame with a serial number of 80 03 51516, does anyone have any idea on how to identify this bike. My guess with the number is the it might be a March of 1980 production. It had a mix of Shimano 600 and Campagnolo Strada and Record mixed up on it. No stickers, no other branding. Would love some help with this!
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4You need photos or it's a no-go. Numbering systems are rarely easy to identify. – Noise Jun 07 '21 at 07:14
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2Hi, welcome to bicycles. Serial numbers aren't very useful, and in fact knowing the model and year of your bike is also rarely helpful: https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/52060/why-shouldnt-i-care-what-model-make-year-my-bicycle-is – DavidW Jun 07 '21 at 18:16
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Does this answer your question? Why shouldn't I care what model/make/year my bicycle is? – shoover Jun 27 '23 at 15:25
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OP hasn't been back since posting - further information is unlikely to be forthcoming. – Criggie Jun 27 '23 at 22:45
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You're pretty much out of luck, unless some part of the bike is particularly distinctive. We see this a lot with both generic Bike Boom road frames from the 80s, and BMXs from all times.
If your bike has a distinctive feature, then please edit a clear and well lit photo into your question. Ideally one of the whole bike from the right hand side, and another of the part.
The occasional trend of repainting a bike and removing decals makes it hard to identify - curse the previous owner for that choice! If you know the history of the bike, then ask the previous owner/s if possible.
That your serial number is 4, 5, or 9 digits long suggests that it is a larger manufacturer. Small bespoke shops would not produce 999 frames in a year, so 51516 suggests a volume output.
You can also identify the exact model of the components, and see if they have an overlap in dates, and make a judgement call if they are original or not.
Example: Shimano 600EX 6 speed duraace was new in 1983, while 600 Ultegra (6402) was 8 speed SIS with STI levers and dates from 1992.
Info from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimano#Road_groupsets, and
http://velobase.com/ViewGroup.aspx?GroupID=fdd9d3ff-38c7-439c-b9c7-e28c90d1ef87 has more info on each item.
Criggie
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