Orange Clockwork Prototype

[FluffyChicken]

Just wish to amend that.... as seen the rear mech picture above.
The 2000 year was when that was first released.
Now cast your mind forward to 2005 (or years after if picking it up cheap on CRC or still in a shop etc..)
Did you fit a new rear mech for some reason, someone in your family bugger something up and fit it without you knowing.
That mech was made December 2004 if I'm reading CL correctly. Not sure if they had had a model updated in 2005 though, so... Just checked, still M510 this year, in two colours. The last year of them.

Which would also be near the start of Retrobike

 

[adyifauk]

Just wish to amend that.... as seen the rear mech picture above.
The 2000 year was when that was first released.
Now cast your mind forward to 2005 (or years after if picking it up cheap on CRC or still in a shop etc..)
Did you fit a new rear mech for some reason, someone in your family bugger something up and fit it without you knowing.
That mech was made December 2004 if I'm reading CL correctly.

Which would also be near the start of Retrobike

There is absolutely no way was that rear mech (or any other components) was added later. Just my mum and I lived at the house in Elland and, in 1998, my mum was 53 y.o and never rode a bike. No one else lived or had access to the garage and the garage door was knackered (it dropped off the runners and we didnt have the money to fix it). There was a risk that if we tried to open it, it would drop onto my Astra SRI, so I fitted a padlock to the exterior of the garage door to prevent that happening and then ended up losing the key.

When mum died I had to cut the lock off, to gain access and clear the garage.



Apologies for the poor quality photo, took it off the estate agents details but it shows the metal plate left on the garage, that secured the bolting mechanism to the concrete foundation at the front of the garage.

As mentioned, I was offered a job in Suffolk and relocated in February 1999, moving into a small rented cottage with no outside storage. I left everything at my mums and when we finally got a house with storage, bought a new bike. The Orange bike has been locked away from the end of 1998 until 2025.

The bike chap has some 'new old stock' of the rear mech and dates it to 2000. He believes it is not uncommon for bike companies to take delivery of the components before their release date.

Whilst typing this I've just googled the numbers and Shimano's brochure seems to show this from 2000, rather than 2004:

 

[FluffyChicken]

They made that model for model years 2000-2005
Yes sometimes they get early samples, but quite often they actually turn up late due to supplies. Deore is nothing special other than replacing STX, I would be sceptical to getting 'samples' earlier, and then only as early as it would need to be (we're talking June/July 1999 ready for the 2000 model year releases here). Especially given it is hard to get them earlier than they are made, The date stamp, if correct says it is 2004 December, so would put it in the 2005 model year.

I can only comment on what is presented in front of me

So somehow a mech made at the end of 2004, of a model not available to put on bike until the end of 1999 and was stopped at the end of 2005, was locked away on a bike at the start of 1999.

 

[adyifauk]

They made that model for model years 2000-2005
Yes sometimes they get early samples, but quite often they actually turn up late due to supplies. Deore is nothing special other than replacing STX, I would be sceptical to getting 'samples' earlier, and then only as early as it would need to be (we're talking June/July 1999 ready for the 2000 model year releases here). Especially given it is hard to get them earlier than they are made, The date stamp, if correct says it is 2004 December, so would put it in the 2005 model year.

I can only comment on what is presented in front of me

So somehow a mech made at the end of 2004, of a model not available to put on bike until the end of 1999 and was stopped at the end of 2005, was locked away on a bike at the start of 1999.

Hi, my mind is even more blown by this because it is impossible for that bike to have components fitted to it after the end of 1998. Can you point me in the direction of the date stamp you are referring to please - cheers.

Also, it couldnt have been 1999 as I'd moved away by then, it had to be fitted between 1997 and 1998.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Back of the rear mech with the RM-510 code on it, the CL is probably the date stamp. You could look on the inside of the jockey arm too. You'll find them on most components.
You'll need to date grid for 2002+ because its completely wrong* on the pre 2002 dating but basically A = 2002, B = 2003 .... then second letter A = January, B = February


Ether way, it just wouldn't have been made in 1998 for anyone in it's final form.


* It would be 1978

 

[FluffyChicken]

The stamp on the crank arms would be interesting too.

 

[d8mok]

Haven’t read all 4 pages but the CL code on that M510 mech is 2004.

So someone certainly had access to the bike between the dates suggested.

Rear mechs always seem to be the part swapped out on barn find bikes. Likely the old one was damaged , and taken to a bike shop to have a new one fitted

 

[adyifauk]

Hi FluffyChicken and d8mok,

I completely agree that the CL code indicates 2004, I've found the Shimano date matrix online and this agrees with what you're both saying.

No one has swapped that mech over and no-one had access to the garage from the end of 1998 until 2025. The bike was not used enough to warrant taking it for a service before I moved in 1999 and the garage locks were broken by me a few months ago. I dont understand this nor can I explain it. The first person to work on the bike is the chap who's just stripped it down and he is pretty confident he's the first person to remove any parts from the bike due to the indentations in the paint.

Nothing on the bike had been damaged, I rode it on the road for exercise, never took it off road, never crashed it, never dropped it, the bike was like new (albeit covered in a bit of dirt) and fully working when I locked it away.

I am definitely not saying you are wrong on this when it comes to the date of the component, but I absolutely know it is impossible for any bits to have been replaced. This does not make any sense to me.