Trek Frame Serial Numbers
Prior to Late 1980 | Late 1980 to Late 1986 | Late 1986 to 1999+
Serial Number Location
A serial number on the underside of a bottom bracket. Another serial number beneath the bottom bracket, aligned parallel to the frame. Some Schwinn bicycles have the unique identifying number on their head tube (which is on the front of the bike). A serial number located on a rear drop out.
The serial number on a Schwinn bicycle made in Chicago can be found engraved into the frame near the pedals. On a bicycle made in Japan, the serial number may be engraved on the frame near the pedals, on the headlug or on the head badge at the front. Schwinn is a bicycle brand and manufacturing subsidiary of Pacific Cycle. This means you can enter a vintage (1948-1982) schwinn serial number and get info about when it was manufactured. It was a big job, and I am not through yet, but it currently works for most serial numbers that are 6 or 7 characters long. Schwinn Serial number and date code database. Locate the serial number on the left rear dropout, bottom bracket, or head tube. The assembly date and consists of the Julian day and the last digit of the year (1246 decodes to the 124th day. Bicycle serial numbers can be hard to locate and decipher. Learn how to read a vintage bicycle serial numbers.
Trek frame serial numbers (SNs) are typically stamped into the bottom of the bottom bracket shell. In the case of some early 80s Treks, the number is under the plastic cable guide on the bottom of the shell. Just remove the plastic cable guide to see the number. The other place Trek (or their subcontractors) stamped the SN is at the lower end of the seat tube.
Note: The SN on your original sales receipt may not match the one on your bike. Sales persons sometimes had difficulty reading the numbers.
Many early Trek bottom bracket shells have a one or two letter code stamped separately from the serial number. This was made by the individual framebuilder to mark his/her work. On some bottom brackets there are two codes: one indicating the maker of the main triangle and the other for the maker of the rear triangle or perhaps the person who cut and shaped the tubing, if not done by the framebuilder. If you know which mark was used by a particular craftsman, please let me know.
Serialization Date
The dates coded in the serial numbers, or the dates inferred from the numbers, are dates on which the new frames were stamped with serial numbers (serialized). These dates are not necessarily the same as the model year of the frame. At some time late in each year (beginning generally September or October) the frames produced were created from designs, and painted with colors, for the next year.
Hard to read?
Trek serial numbers can be hard to read. Clean the area well, and use lots of light at various angles. A suggestion by J. Hansen can help you read a serial number:
'Rub the area with candle wax of a color that contrasts with your paint. Lightly wipe it off with a rag. The wax stays in the indented area of the S/N. Now you can easily read the number. I have included a photo of the results from my bike. In this case I used a red candle to make the serial number stand out. Note that even with the serial number filled with wax, the leading '0' is almost imperceptible.'
Serial Number Descriptions
The serial number descriptions are divided into five categories. Click on the link below to go to the appropriate category.
Prior to Late 1980 | Late 1980 to Late 1986 | Late 1986 to 1999+ PRIOR TO LATE 1980
Before late 1980, Trek used an alphanumeric serial number scheme. Each seven-character number consists of three letters mixed with numerals. The serial number list and the code for the list are not available from Trek (but hope springs eternal). In the meantime, we have the results of the serial number decoding project:
LATE 1980 TO LATE 1986
Late in 1980, Trek changed to a new numbering system for their frames built in the U.S. The frames were numbered sequentially, beginning with number 000001. The record of the assembly runs was documented in a handwritten journal. Trek (Kevin Tita) graciously provided a copy of the journal for this web site. The list ended in November of 1986 with number 279975. This serial number system actually extended through at least 1997 (see Table II below).
The journal includes run number, model number, frame size, and serial number range. Incidental information, including dates and comments on the frames, appears sporadically through the journal. A 'run' was for a particular frame size and frame model.
We all owe thanks to Luker White who generously donated his time to convert much of the paper list to digital form.
These data were mined to produce bike production by model for each calendar year. The results can be seen on the Trek Bike Production by Model, Late 1980 through 1986 page.
Click on the date link in Table I below to go to the detailed serial number information for that year.
Table I - 1980 to 1986
Notes for Table I:
This 6 digit (7 digit beginning in 1993) code extended into at least 1999, at least for some models (generally mid to upper level and made in the US). The number may or may not have a leading zero, making the six digits into seven digits prior to 1993. The model is not available for these numbers but the year can be determined or estimated from Table II below. The information in the table is from serial numbers submitted by site visitors. Our thanks to them. In contrast to the serial number dates in Table I above, the years in Table II represent model years, not the date the serial number was applied.
Table II - Model Years 1987 to 1999
JAZZ BY TREK
Jazz is a line of foreign-built, entry-level bicycles that Trek sold in the early 90s. (See the history page for a bit more info and the brochures page for a 93 catalog). There seems to be at least three serial number types:
These three serial number forms may mean that Trek used at least three subcontractors for the Jazz line.
MISSING SERIAL NUMBERS
A few owners of early Treks, mostly, from 1976 through the early 80s, report their frames are not marked with serial numbers. A past Trek employee wrote that the police in the Madison and the surrounding area said TREK was famous for bikes with no serial numbers. Seems hundreds didn't get any numbers at all. The serial number guy just missed a few?
Three other possibilities: 1. In the early years Trek allowed, and even encouraged, their workers to use company equipment and materials to build personal frames after hours. These frames often were not serialized. The practice stopped after production was increased, resulting in little available down time for the equipment. 2. The serial number on a repainted frame that was not first stripped, may disappear under the new paint. 3. The number is under the plastic cable guide attached to the bottom of the bottom bracket shell.
Prior to Late 1980 | Late 1980 to Late 1986 | Late 1986 to 1999+ Brochures | Price Lists and Values | Trek History | Trek Timeline | Serial Numbers *Trek is a trademark of Trek Bicycle Corporation, Waterloo, WI All copyrights in the TREK brochures, pricelists, owner's manuals and photographs displayed on this website are the sole property of Trek Bicycle Corporation, Waterloo, Wisconsin. All materials in this site not copyrighted by others are Copyright © 2001-2015 Skip Echert Web Associates, All rights reserved.
I have a vintage Schwinn Traveler made approximately 1985. I have been trying to learn more about the bike through the serial number and head badge. However I can't seem to find difinitive information. I located the serial number: SC507898, but the two letters at the beginning don't match any date code listed on any of the sites the last serial numbers and how to decode them. The head badge also has a number on it: 1025 which would put it as made the 102nd day of either 1975 or 1985. This confuses me though because the head badge days Chicago, but I thought I read somewhere that the Chicago factory was closed in 1982. The bike is a Schwinn Traveler. Given all this information, can someone help me find out exactly the year the bike was made?
LyleandVanessa HakeLyleandVanessa Hake
1 Answer
Schwinn closed the Chicago plant in 1983 shortly after opening a plant in Greenville MS. They were also importing many bikes at that time. Your '85 Traveler was built in Greenville MS. The headbadge still read 'Chicago' because Schwinn's corporate offices remained there.
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The serial number SC5xxxxx indicates the frame was built in March (C) of '85 (5), and the 1025 headbadge number indicates the bike was built on the 102nd day of '85, or Friday April 12th, 1985: http://www-air.larc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/jday?month=3&day=11&year=1985&Show_Calendar=Show_Calendar
Schwinn Serial Number Decoder List
This of course means your bike is an '85 model as depicted in the catalog here: http://bikecatalogs.org/SCHWINN/1985/LightWeight/Traveler.html
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