Cannondale is a bicycle manufacturing company headquartered in Bethel, Connecticut. It operates throughout North America and has numerous subsidiaries in countries around the world including, Holland, Japan and Australia according to Cannondale.com. Cannondale bicycles are popular for mountain riding as well as for road bikers, and have been around for many years. If you have a Cannondale bike, or are interested in purchasing one, you may want to know which year it was manufactured. To do this you'll need the bicycle serial number codes.
Locate the bicycle serial number. This can be found either behind the seat, on the seat adjustment bar bracket, on the bottom of the bike frame, or on the upper rear frame fork, depending on the year. Behind the seat is indicative of all raven models manufactured between 1998 and 2001, and all models from 2002 to current.
Identify the letters at the beginning of the serial number for the 1983 to 1985 series. The beginning letters AA, BB, and CC, indicate correspondingly 1983, 1984, and 1985.
Identify the 1986 to 1992 series serial numbers. Cannondale used two different formats for dating bikes during this series combining frame size, manufacture date, and sequence number for one version. For the second version, the number combines rear dropout spacing, frame size, manufacture date and sequence number.
Example Version 1: Serial number: 55 030688 130
55= frame size, 030688= March 6, 1988, 130= sequence number.
Example Version 2: Serial Number: 6 19 0492 0525
6= rear dropout spacing, 19= frame size, 0492= April 1992, 0525= sequence number.
Identify the 1993 to 1999 series serial number to find the date. The date is indicated by two letters corresponding to the year and month located in the upper left corner on the serial number plate. The years 1993 to 1999 are indicated by letters E though K, respectively. The months of the year are indicated by letters A though L. Example: EE= April, 1993
Identify the serial number for bikes manufactured in 2000 or 2001. The letter will be on the lower right corner of the serial number plate. L indicates 2000, M indicates 2001.
Identify the bar code and serial number plate for bikes manufactured from 2002 to current year. Under the barcode the first letter will indicate the year. The letters start with N for 2002. Example: S264290, S= 2007
Warnings
- Never attempt to buy a Cannondale with a damaged or removed bicycle serial number. This is a sign that a bike has been stolen.
References
Warnings
- Never attempt to buy a Cannondale with a damaged or removed bicycle serial number. This is a sign that a bike has been stolen.
