Tell me what year my bike was made

June 23, 2008 8:15 PM

Can you tell me what year my bike was made?

it's a specialized allez sport but i don't know what year it's from. here is a photo

i can post other photos if that will help you identify the year.

thanks!

posted by nanhey to sports, hobbies, & recreation (9 comments total)

I'm not smart enough to help you based on a photo (though someone here may well be), but I can tell you that checking the serial number is the usual way that this is done.
posted by pullayup at 8:25 PM on June 23, 2008

specialized.com has an archive section. They change the paint scheme on their bikes every year. Yours greatly resembles my boyfriend's 2002 Allez Sport , although the colors do not match. You can probably verify this by seeing if the technical specs match up (assuming there are original components on the bike).
posted by smalls at 8:56 PM on June 23, 2008

oh! one other way I know it's a pre-2003 bike is because Specialized started putting carbon forks on their Allez sport after this time. Looks like your fork is aluminum.
posted by smalls at 9:01 PM on June 23, 2008

That fork is NOT aluminum. Why on earth would you think it's aluminum?

It's a Kinesis carbon fork. Shifters look like 9-speed 105 as does the derailleur. The crankset is throwing me off a little - it looks like an older 8-speed Shimano? Or maybe even 7-speed? Probably though it's just a Specialized house brand.

Anyway, the bike is definitely 2002 or 2003. Those forks were sourced by several manufacturers back then - Jamis in particular used them. I had one on my 2003 Quest with a 105 9-speed group.
posted by wfrgms at 10:49 PM on June 23, 2008

Black doesn't mean carbon, my friend.. although the sport gained a Carbon Kinesis fork in 2002+.

Looks like it's a 2001: Bikepedia.

Your seat looks painfully oriented.
posted by kcm at 12:16 AM on June 24, 2008

Yes, please lower the nose of your saddle. Makes my area hurt just looking at it.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:27 AM on June 24, 2008

If you don't get a conclusive answer here, and for whatever reason don't want to go the serial-number route, this is probably the kind of question that your LBS (provided they're a longtime Specialized dealer) can help you with.

There's probably a guy standing around your local shop drinking coffee, right now, who knows the answer to this question off the top of his head.
posted by box at 6:13 AM on June 24, 2008

thanks everyone this is perfect!
posted by nanhey at 6:17 AM on June 24, 2008

Well, if it's anything like the specialized allez sport I have in the basement, it would indeed be an aluminum fork. Unless it just says "enhanced aluminum alloy" for no reason. So, um yeah, THAT's why I would think it's an aluminum fork.
posted by smalls at 9:10 AM on June 24, 2008