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Dating bikes with a Sturmey Archer 3-speed hub

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Deejay

Look Ma, No Hands!
I recently picked up an old CCM Imperial 3-speed women's bike. When I first looked for a serial number, I couldn't find one. A piece of advice I've heard several times is to look for a date on the rear hub to help date the bike. The number 61 is stamped on it, so the bike was made about 1961? Wrong! I later found a serial number near the base of the seat tube - the letter C followed by 5 digits. This letter was used in 1970. So it seems that some hubs could have sat on the shelf for quite a while before being installed on a bike. Any comments?
 
Pretty normal for that to happen and even more so if the rear wheel has been replaced. I usually add one to two years to the hubs date but could be more. Roger
 
Pretty normal for that to happen and even more so if the rear wheel has been replaced. I usually add one to two years to the hubs date but could be more. Roger

Yes- happens frequently enough. I would guess a wheel swap on that one. My Raleigh Sports serial has a June 1974 code, but May 1974 hubs. They could sit longer, but a decade is pushing it. I think a hub swap probably in that case. The suggestion with Raleigh has been to date based on overall mixtures factors- hub dates, serial number, decals, frame and fork styles, etc. Hub date is "quick and dirty" only, as they say.
 
My '54 Jag has a SA rear hub with a '54 date stamp.

You probably can date it then both using Schwinn's serial and the hub, which is doubly nice because it helps confirm the wheel as original. For such a big, experienced outfit, Raleigh's serial number systems are poorly organized and very hard to follow. You end up having to look at the other factors (decals, color, components, etc) for them.
 
The dating Game.

You know you cannt date a bicycle frame by the parts that are bolted to it!
 
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