Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - Cannondale R800, 1994, complete bike, 58cm

This bike was stored for some number of years in a big open-sided shed, so while it was not exposed directly to water, there are portions of the cables that have light surface rust. I rubbed a layer of dirt off the chain to discover that it doesn't appear rusted at all. There are a few rust spots on the gears.

Tires are falling apart, literally. Shimano 105 brake / shifter components, the brakes work; the shifting levers move but I'm not sure if the bike has to be going in order for them to actually do anything (I've never owned a lever-shift bike).

I turned the bike upside-down and spun the wheels; both spin without resistance or bearing noise, and no wobble - I watched the gaps between rims and brakes on each wheel. However, when I move the pedals (as if I were riding the bike) it sounds / feels like there's dirt in the bearing (bottom bracket axle?). Please excuse my unfamiliarity with the technical vernacular.

Paint is still bright and glossy; has some chips where it looks like someone was careless in putting it on a car trunk bike rack. Seat is nothing special, vinyl has a hole in the very front but is otherwise intact. The wrapping on one side of the handlebars looks like it has a small portion torn off; it's some kind of foam and on a guess I'd say the entire wrap needs to be taken off and replaced just due to sheer age.

As far as my location affecting value, I live in a large city with a very strong cycling culture. Most of the Ebay listings are for 2000+ model years; I found one 1990's complete R800 with 3 days left and up to $305. Couple of totally bare frames on ebay / craigslist for ~$250, but are either unidentified year or 2000+.

These frames are $50-100 or so max. The components need to be overhauled. If you sell it as a whole bike (ready to ride, dissasembly, assembly, rust out of the components, everything working well, new cables) about $200 ish max.

You'll have to get this bike at a great price to make it worth while. From what you've said, the bottom bracket, freehub and/or brifters may or may not need to be replaced. If the brifters don't shift correctly, that's potentially REAL expensive or just some WD-40 can repair it, hard to say. The problem here is you're not a bike mechanic and this bike needs help. I work on bikes and have done several frame up builds. For me, I'd look at this as a risky venture and assume something is wrong. I'd offer $150 and you have to take into account I have all the parts in my bin to fix whatever is wrong with that bike except the bottom bracket, but I have all the tools to fix even that.
If the bike was ride ready, with good tires, chain, all you need to do is jump on it and go, it's a $350-$400 bike, maybe on a good day in a high market, $450.
I do understand your desire to bag a Cannondale. Of all the older bikes, they look like they're newer and certainly command a certain amount of respect due to their high quality image.

+1 Value is about $150 as it sits. Brifter problems can be easy to fix, or sometimes impossible to fix short of replacement. New brifters are expensive. You should only buy it if you are willing/ready/able to do the work yourself. You could go broke paying a shop to fix this one. I recently bought a very similar Cannondale from a seller who had taken it to a shop and had a $350 repair estimate. Fortunately, I was able to repair it.

+1 This bike is a can of worms, a "pig in a poke". Sometimes you win on a bike like this, sometimes you lose. But since you are not a bike mechanic, I do not see a scenario where you can win.

So if you are not a bike mechanic, I would keep looking.

+10

If you are looking to buy this to ride, expect to pay upwards of $150 in parts (tires, tubes, cables, housing, saddle, bar tape, grease, bottom bracket, cone wrenches & bearings, BB tools, chain, lube, etc.) to make it safe to ride. But then you'll have a very serviceable rider and 58cm is a good size. If you don't have the expertise to do it yourself or the interest in learning and some basic tools, then pass. Cost to have someone tear the bike down and rebuild it would be too high to make it worth your while.

For the future benefit of anyone searching the forums for pricing info on an older R800, and since I have now sold the bike (it was a hand-me-down from my dad and the frame size was too large for me): I found someone who was very enthusiastic about it and gave me $250 for it. It was his original offer over email, and he spent less than 5 minutes looking over the bike. I guess it was exactly what he wanted. I had several other email offers in the $100 - $200 range; no one else managed to make it to view the bike before it was sold, so I have no additional mechanical details on its condition.