Rockhopper date?

[Void(EN12-82)]

Hi all,

I was just cleaning out in the basement and found this frame that I seem to have for some time now:

Now I was just looking at this frame and it uses a 30.9 seatpost (same as my S-works M2), it's a 16.5" size and it says "Rockhopper Comp A1 FS". Now the serial number down on the BB says: M4JI29342 and that leaves me to believe it would be a 1993 frame (1993, week 42 or something?). But looking at the catalogues I see this model in the 1995 Specialized catalogue, no sign of anything in A1 before that...

Anybody know more to say about this? I mean, how do you read those specialized serial numbers anyway? Because my Stumpjumper FS's serial number starts with 96, and that would make it a 1996 model, but I've bought it myself in very own person back in juli 1992...

We are confused now :? :?:

Void(EN12-82)

 

[Augustus]

I was under the impression that aluminium rockhoppers first appeared in 1994.

??

:?

 

[jonboy]

I think the number in the frame number on the BB can be miss leading. In the late 90's Specialized used to release the new models around October time for the following year.

So, you can have a fram number that is '93 because it was physically made in 1993 but is from the "1994" range.

I think 94 is the right range year - could be '95 though. Let me look at it again.....

 

[Cristian-T]

i used to sell those, & im sure its a 96' model. came with stx groupset..

 

[FirstFlight]

M4JI29342

Generally, Specialized used the first letter as the factory, second digit as the last digit in the year and the third as as the month (a=jan, f=feb...). Usually by October or so they would have been the next model year bike.

Yours should be from October of 1994 which would likely have been a 1995 model year bike.

 

[Void(EN12-82)]

Yeah me thinks 1995 as well, since I have the 1996 Specialized catalogues here in paper (all 3 of them: the "Bikes", "S-works" and "Accesiories") and in there the RockHopper A1 Comp FS is in silver with no other color as option... and since this bike is from here in Holland it should have been silver then.

OK, well I'll stick with 1994/1995 then. Now to figure out what I'll do with it :twisted: But that's for later worries, now to get my 1990 AlpineStars CroMega DX cleaned and restored again (got that one saterday).

OK guys, thanx for the info...