It's really all about expectations. I think Riese & Muller and all of us would be better served not having those bike codes with build dates. They only serve to set expectations that they fail to meet, often repeatedly, and create a high level of discontent before we even get to use the product. My dealer told me to expect my 2021 Homage in late January '21 (they were told this by R&M), but the bike code pointed to a late October '20 build date, then late November, and now late December. Clearly R&M was sharing more reliable information and explanations for the holdup with my dealer (there's an issue with the Homage frames). So you have to wonder -- why have these silly bike codes that simply mislead and disappoint us?