Hunqs. How do I know what year mine is?

[Nikko Mendoza]

Hey y’all,

Just out of curiosity... How do I know what year and location my Hunq was manufactured in? Any particular details I should look at? Is there a Hunq manufacturing timeline somewhere?

Nikko in Oakland

[Chris L]

I would be curious, as well.  My Hunqapillar is from the very first batch and I'm not even sure what year that was.  2011?  Taiwan?  I've heard of Toyo and Wisconsin Hunqapillars but I'm assuming that first batch was from Taiwan.

I have four different Hunqapillar brochures, one of which specifies the brand and number of the main tubes, but I have no idea if that brochure applies to mine or not.  

The serial number format is RIV"P"XXX.  I'm not sure the "P" is actually a "P".  The paint is pretty heavy in that spot.  

What color is your Hunqapillar?  Mine is gray and orange.  

[Chris L]

I wonder if my Hunqapillar might be a prototype, and that's what the "p" designates?  

On Flickr, there are several photos of the 54 cm prototype, painted gray with orange head tube.  The photos clearly show the pump peg painted gray, with white lining around it, which matches my bike.  The only other gray/orange 54cm Hunq I'm aware of, has the pump peg the color of the head tube (ie, orange), as does every Hunqapillar, in any color, in a random sample from my collection of Hunq photos.  The prototype has an orange ring at the bottom of the seat tube lug, while mine is a somewhat sloppy white.  

I have always assumed all of (very few) orange trim Hunq's came from that first batch.  Maybe that is not the case.  

[Joe Bernard]

That's correct, the first ones had orange and are very rare, then kidney bean, then they went to the green frames. To my knowledge all are Toyo or Waterford. 

[Ed Fausto]

Hi Joe,  would you know how to determine if the frame is made in Toyo or Waterford?

[John M]

This was from my Hunqapillar with serial number "M14008".  Which I had assumed meant the eighth frame produced in 2014 at Waterford.

[Charlie R]

I pre-ordered one of the original Hunqapillars.  From what I can recall, the Hunquapillar was the first Taiwan built Rivendell bicycle after Rivendell left Toyo Japan.  It might have even been a Toyo Taiwan shop.  I don't believe any were made by Toyo Japan.   There was a long wait period and when I finally received the bicycle, Keven told me it was made by Waterford because the order from Taiwan was just taking to long.  I remember checking the serial number and it fit with the Waterford scheme.  Subsequent batches were made in Taiwan at least for a while and might have reverted back to Waterford when the batch orders stopped. 

The bike was the gray maroon colors.  I have a picture somewhere which I will try to find.  I will also try to find my original receipt.  A fellow list member now owns the bike.

[J Schwartz]

I could be wrong about this, but does anyone seem to remember reading one of GP's posts about them using Kasei tubing on those first grey/maroon (and grey/orange) Hunqs?

[Jim M.]

Here's a link to the Wayback Machine for Rivbike in 2010 when the Hunq was new: https://web.archive.org/web/20100430212618/http://www.rivbike.com/products/show/hunqapillar/50-713

"The Hunqapillar frame is an interesting mix of materials and co-conspirators. It's made in Taiwan by a team of builders trained by Tetsu Ishigaki, of Toyo. The main tubes are the most expensive steel tubing we could find anywhere --- Japanese Kaisei 8630 heat-treated. The seat and chainstays are excellent Taiwan CrMo. The fork is made in Japan by Tetsu Ishigaki at Toyo."

jim m

walnut creek, ca

[Chris L]

Thanks for posting that!   I remember reading it way back when, but I didn't have my bike at that time and didn't try to match those specs to any particular Hunqapillar.

The first section of that link is almost word-for-word, the big Hunqapillar brochure I have.  I never knew where in the Hunqapillar time-frame that brochure came from and whether it applied to early models or middle models.  I have three others that are just updates on the progress of the frame.

So, it sounds like mine was made in Taiwan, with heat treated main tubes and chainstays and a Japanese fork.  That's nice to know.  

I've been wanting to try RH's 700 x 55 Antelope Hill tires and when I went to order a day or two ago, they were already out of stock.  I've got WTB Nine Lines on it right now and enjoy them, even though I'm 100% pavement and grass, but the Hunqapillar just looks so RIGHT with knobbies that I might just order the new RH 700 x 55 knobbies.  

[Jeremy Till]

Assuming your bike hasn't been repainted or got a custom paint job, I think the easiest way to tell it's age is from the paint colors. The first couple of runs had the grey main tubes with either "kidney bean" red or orange head tubes/accents. The later ones were a green color with cream headtubes. The early ones also had more limited tire clearance and maxed out around 2.1" tires, whereas later ones could fit wider than that. I think the early ones used the same fork crowns as the Atlantis at the time while later ones got a wider dedicated crown and wider stays.  

-Jeremy Till

Sacramento, CA

[Joe Bernard]

Huh, I guess my Riv memory ain't what it used to be, I seem to have transposed Toyo-trained to Toyo-built. I know nothing! 

[Nikko in Oakland]

Hm, anybody know the history past the gray ones?

I have a green Hunqapillar with no cream accent on the seat tube. Serial would be either...

P12088 or F12088. There are too many coats of paint over it, and I can't exactly tell what the numbers/letters are. 

[Jim M.]

I believe yours was built in 2012, and if you look at the Wayback Machine, https://web.archive.org/web/20120519113952if_/http://www.rivbike.com/category-s/619.htm

the 2012 website shows the Hunq without the cream seat tube rectangle.

jim m

walnut creek, ca

[Chris L]

Wow, I didn't realize the Hunqapillar was switched to green that early on.  Wasn't the first batch released in early 2011?  And they were already doing green in 2012.  

I believe Will has stated the Hunqapillar will be back, but in a different form.  I look forward to seeing that.