Can you help me date this bike? I think all the components are original, except for the tires, cables, pedals, handlebar, and saddle, which I changed out when I got the bike about 5 years ago. I also added the accessories. I can get more pics if needed.

Specialized Crossroads
18" Steel frame
700c tires
Maroon color
6 gears on the back
3 gears on the front
Twist shift gear changer
SRT2001-61 (or SRT200-61--hard to read) embossed on the gear changer hardware clamped to the handlebar
Cantilever breaks with "Shimano" embossed on the round disk
Single piece stem with riser--black with "Sakae" embossed on it
Altus C50 rear derailleur
"USA" on a USA map on TT near the seat tube
"DIRECT DRIVE CUSTOM" on seat tube
Original handlebar was black with a small rise (about an inch) and angled slightly back towards the rider

Thank you,
Roberta

You'll need to either peruse old catalogs for pictures and spec's, OR simply find the tiny, two-digit letter code on any of the Shimano parts.

I'm guessing early-90's vintage. The first digit/letter of the code is the year, 1991 would be letter P for example, 1992 would Q.

The codes are on the rear of each crankarm, and on the back side of each derailer.

I acquired the same bike a few days ago and have been researching it as well. I think it is from 1994, browsing from the Specialized 1994 catalogs from the retrobike co uk website. I might be wrong though.

May I ask, what's the seatpost size? Caliper says 26.2, I just want to be sure before buying one. Thanks!

I’ve since sold the bike ( which was why the request on original post), so I cannot tell you the seat post size. I did like it very much and believe I dated it from same timeframe.

tailwinds,
Roberta