Originally Posted by
Metacortex
That actually means that the dropout was stamped in December 1969, before it was welded to a frame. The frame was most likely built a month or two later.
I think it means the frame was built in December 1969. If it has a headbdge with a 4-digit code, that would tell you the date the whole bike was assembled, not the date the frame was welded together. I don't believe they would have stamped a bunch of dropouts, and left them in a pile to put on whatever frame parts that came along. That doesn't make any sense. It's always been the case that the dropout date was the date the frame was put together, and the headbadge date was the date the parts were assembled onto the frame. I've never heard it any other way. Who knows.....