How can I determine a Shimano component manufacturing date?
Shimano use a simple 2-letter date code, printed on each component or on a sticker or label. You'll usually find this near the component's serial code.
The first letter indicates the year, the second stands for the month. Use the lists below to determine when your component left the factory.
First letter (year)
- A - 2002
- B - 2003
- C - 2004
- D - 2005
- E - 2006
- F - 2007
- G - 2008
- H - 2009
- I - 2010
- J - 2011
- K - 2012
- L - 2013
- M - 2014
- N - 2015
- O - 2016
- P - 2017
- Q - 2018
- R - 2019
- S - 2020
- T - 2021
- U - 2022
- V - 2023
- W - 2024
Second letter (month)
- A - January
- B - February
- C - March
- D - April
- E - May
- F - June
- G - July
- H - August
- I - September
- J - October
- K - November
- L - December
An example
Have a look at the two batteries below. The top battery was built May (E) 2013 (L) , the other one in March (C) 2017 (P). We can easily confirm the date of the bottom battery, it's printed right above the date code.
Also, the SM-BTR2 is older than the BT-DN110, so they dates make perfect sense.
