You are reading a single comment by @Dutch_Cheese and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@Dutch_Cheese
I think you have to check this:
http://www.fivenineclimber.com/bikes/gazelle/misc/serial_numbers.htm
If the GAZELLE stamping is missing, it's a bit strange, but not impossible.
They used to have some kind of hand tool and had to roll the Gazelle stamp manually into each BB-shell.
Sometimes they simply forgot.
Exception: Cinelli cast BB shells: these came from the factory with the name already casted/stamped. Sometimes, when Cinelli had no stock of Gazelle marked BB shells and delivery time was a bit tight, they supplied parts with regular Cinelli logo.
For the regular production models, it's as good as impossible that a frame number is missing. All sales orders (but also resprays, repairs, etc) were based on frame numbers. As chancertime mentioned, perhaps there was no frame number for very early pro team bikes Still strange tho'.
Style of numbering: most of the times, the frame numbers were rolled into the BB shells also, some kind of machine.
With special frames (all custom, made to measure, 753, track, CX, lo pro, tandem, ...) were made by one person, not in small series at some kind of production line.
SOmetimes they picked a pre-numbered BB shell, sometimes they used a BB-shell without numbers and hammered the numbers into the BB shell manually.
In the 1980's Gazelle's lightweight devision had a "book", where all frame numbers were registered. Meaning: series of BB-shell /frame numbers and the date when these numbers were pressed into the shell. So, this was a rough indication (+/- a couple of months) when the frame was produced.
I'm not sure if that booklet still exsists of if it's lost. Meanwhile it may be worth something.