Ok so this is the Shimano codes explained. I just want to start of by saying that I got this from an international Cycling forum.(BikeRadar.com) And I don't want to take credit for someone's work , I just found it interesting. It is quite helpful when buying second hand and there is no name like XT or SLX on the part. Shimano part numbers are of the form AB-C wxy Where AB and C are letters, and w, x and y are numbers AB denotes which bit of the bike it is, some examples: RD=Rear Derailleur FD=Front Derailleur HB=Hub (front) FH=FreeHub (rear hub) HP=Headset CN=Chain CS=Cassette BR=Brake (caliper) BL=Brake Lever SL=Shift Lever ST=STI levers (road or mountain) CB=Cable WH=Wheel FC=Front Crankset BB=Bottom Bracket C denotes which discipline. M for Mountain, R for Road, A or T for Audax or Touring. So BR-Mwxy is a mountain bike brake caliper. w is used to denote the product group: M3xy and M4xy are below Deore M5xy is Deore M6xy is LX and Hone M7xy is XT M8xy is Saint M9xy is XTR The x is the 'major' change. M95y was the matt XTR, M96y was the shiny, M970 is the latest. The y are minor variations. RD-M951 was the rapid-rise version of RD-M950. But otherwise they are exactly the same. They do similar things with front mechs and clamp sizes, too. You also sometimes get letters after the codes. RD-M951 SGS is the SGS version. Below is the date codes they are normally a little silver sticker somewhere on the part. YEAR A 1976 B 1977 C 1978 D 1979 E 1980 F 1981 G 1982 H 1983 I 1984 J 1985 K 1986 L 1987 M 1988 N 1989 O 1990 P 1991 Q 1992 R 1993 S 1994 T 1995 U 1996 V 1997 W 1998 X 1999 Y 2000 Z 2001 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 MONTH A JAN B FEB C MAR D APR E MAY F JUN G JUL H AUG I SEP J OCT K NOV L DEC If I made any mistakes or if there is already a topic(I couldn't found one) like this on the hub please tell my, and I will edit.
