> I was told by Mercian that the last two digits of their serial
> numbers
> is the year the frame was built. Don't know what the other numbers
> represent or how long the date code has been in use...
Mark responded:
>I thought the first two digits
>indicated the Nth frame built that year. I no longer have my 2000 KOM
>Touring, so I can't double-check (or see which digits they used for
2000).
Hmmm, my 2000 Mercian Audax has the following serial number: 2052000. It was built at the very end of 2000. I wondered how many frames they make a year and, as Mark suggest, the other numbers give an indication. I originally e-mailed Mercian about a mid-80's frame and they told me then the last two digits were for the year. My new Mercian seems to indicate the last "four" digits are for the year built now. Maybe that is some kind of Y2K thing and they wanted to avoid confusion with "00" for the last two digits. It is a new century and all so maybe it was time to revise the numbering system.
I also e-mailed the fine folks at Bob Jackson with a serial number to ask about when that frame was built. I received a quick reply telling me the date and that there is no date code in their serial numbers. They didn't tell me what the numbers meant, but they seem to have records of serial numbers.
Jim Cole
Memphis, TN