Originally Posted by
tastewar
Hi-
My daughter recently bought a used Bianchi Volpe, and I'd love some help tracking down the age. Below is a pic (hope this works...). It has Shimano Tiagra Flightdeck brifters, 9 sp Tiagra on the rear, 3 speed Sora up front. Avid 15C cantis. Has a chrome fork, and the front wheel is definitely a replacement. Serial number from the bottom bracket would appear to me to be "HOHO 5007" so I'm guessing it was a Christmas bike... :-)
Tiagra and Sora, if OEM, would place it no older than the 2000 model year. The serial number may indicate a Hodaka built frame from August 2000. That's late enough in the year to be a 2001 model. The 2001 specs show Tiagra with a Deore rear derailleur and Avid brakes. So, a 2001, with some changes is a definite possibilty. To this end, I'd be checking the two letter date codes found the Shimano components. The format, location and cypher of the Shimano date codes can be found here;
Date of Manufacture of Bicycle Components can be used to date a bike: component dating . Since there is a possibility that some of the components may have been changed, you should check as many as possible. As an example, attached is a picture of the back of a Shimano Altus rear derailleur showing a date code of' 'IJ '(i.e. 2010, October). Please post what you find.
