Freewheel or Cassette (Freehub)

If your bicycle uses a cassette freehub for the rear sprockets, then it was likely made in the late 1980s or later. Shimano came out with the first commercial freehub in 1978 in the Dura-Ace series, but it took about a decade for it to make significant inroads.

Like many other technologies, cheaper bicycles (and notably, many e-bikes) have continued to use freewheels so only the presence and not the absence of a freewheel is a positive indication of date.

Freewheel or Cassette (Freehub)

If your bicycle uses a cassette freehub for the rear sprockets, then it was likely made in the late 1980s or later. Shimano came out with the first commercial freehub in 1978 in the Dura-Ace series, but it took about a decade for it to make significant inroads.

Like many other technologies, cheaper bicycles (and notably, many e-bikes) have continued to use freewheels even today so only the presence of a freehub/cassette can be used as a positive indication of date:

• Freehub-cassette present as original equipment: the bike was likely made in the late 1980s or later
• Freewheel present as original equipment: you can't determine anything about its age just from this

Freewheel or Cassette (Freehub)

If your bicycle uses a cassette freehub for the rear sprockets, then it was likely made in the late 1980s or later. Shimano came out with the first commercial freehub in 1978 in the Dura-Ace series, but it took about a decade for it to make significant inroads.

Like many other technologies, cheaper bicycles (and notably, many e-bikes) have continued to use freewheels so only the presence and not the absence of a freewheel is a positive indication of date.

Freewheel or Cassette (Freehub)

If your bicycle uses a cassette freehub for the rear sprockets, then it was likely made in the late 1980s or later. Shimano came out with the first commercial freehub in 1978 in the Dura-Ace series, but it took about a decade for it to make significant inroads.

Like many other technologies, cheaper bicycles (and notably, many e-bikes) have continued to use freewheels so only the presence and not the absence of a freewheel is a positive indication of date.