hey, I was wondering if anybody here knew the history or timeline of Dia Compe Brakes and Levers (elliot?) I found this, here's what I found so far:

Dia-Compe and Weinmann

"Brakes and brake levers often have date codes on them. Weinmann and Dia-Compe calipers usually have codes on the back of a caliper arm. This can be simple like "0784" (month 07, 1984) or a clock-type, with year in the middle and a ring of numbers with a tickmark pointing to the month."

"Dia-Compe road levers usually have a code stamped _inside_ the lever. Pull the lever and look inside the top of the lever arm for a code such as "1084." Dia-Compe extension levers (yuck) also tend to have date codes on the side that faces the brake hood. I have a set of Dia-Compe mountain levers where if you pull the lever all the way, a piece of the lever is exposed, which has a clock-type date code. Dia-Compe cantilever brakes don't appear to have a date code, but supposedly the 981, 983, 986 brakes were first introduced in 1981, 1983, 1986, etc."

Vintage-Trek.com

this is a job for ... super curator!

Yup what you got there is correct for road bikes and BMX to a certain extent. The clock face stamp wasn't hot with Dia Compe though, they just like the mm/yy format on their calipers and levers. on most DC levers, you can see the mmyy on the underside of the 'clasp' that clamps onto your bars. Guess we old farts already know this..

I have not seen a timeline for DC but will post here if I have enough info to make one. What I'd really like to know is what Tech 1 looks like!

by the way the mm/yy code on the caliper is the one NOT stamped beside the word 'JAPAN'. look on the arm that does not hold the tensioner. :)

tech 5

Thks guys, another history lesson learnt!!! ;) ...............

ah but its not over. I want to get a consensus as to what the latest and earliest years of tech 3's and tech 4's are at least. I have three tech 3's that are all 1983 and two tech 4's that are 1984. Anybody else want to list some dates? Does the date correspond with the tech #?