Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - cannondale black lightning, should I buy?

I need a road bike to commute because my Schwinn Voyageur is too heavy. I found this bike online.

Can you let me know if it is worth the $330 the gentlemen is asking for? He doesn't know the year. I am new to this, so anything you can tell from the pic, please let me know.
I would like to know the year, and are any of the parts original.

What are the important things to look for when I see this bike in person to establish the true value?

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Thanks,
Don

Hello Don and welcome to the Bike Forums.

The Cannondale Black Lightening, in my opinion, is a very nice and collectable vintage road bicycle. If the bike is in good condition, then, in my mind, the price is not out of the ball park. A bit less would be nice, but the price seems OK to me.

As for knowing what to look for, how much time have you got? It takes a lot of inspecting and research and more inspecting, all coupled with actually riding the bicycles, in question, to determine if the bike is a good one, or not. With that in mind, I publish a website called MY "TEN SPEEDS", aimed at people, just like you, who are seeking information that you seek as a novice to the vintage bicycle interest.

Have a look at Finding Bicycles (http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpeeds_1/FREE_SITE_1/FREE_SITE_2_FINDING.htm), Bicycle Quality (http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpeeds_1/FREE_SITE_1/FREE_SITE_6_BICYCLE_QUALITY.htm), and Trading Bicycles (http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpeeds_1/FREE_SITE_1/FREE_SITE_5_TRADING_POST.htm). Those three sections of the website should get you out of the gate and speed up the learning process.

Hope it is a help and, for what it is worth, the Black Lightening is one of my favorite bicycles, even though I have never owned one. But I have owned and put thousands of miles on old Cannondale road bikes.

Agreed on all points. And aside from the saddle it appears original, although better pictures with more detail would help.

Does it fit? Looks like a 54cm that's too short for the curent owner. If the stem is original it's probably taller than the min insertion line.

Sure wish I could find one of those in my area.

Search here for prior threads relating to Cannondale Black Lightning. Those will give you a good idea of the value, what should be on the bike, and what to look for. Also search eBay for completed listings, I see two which sold for $300 and $312, plus $90-100 shipping so they were worth $400 to someone. One looks a bit thrashed, the other is a very large size which hurts value.

I'm no expert on this model but it is desirable and a fairly versatile size. I think, if it is clean and complete, you could resell it for $330 or close to. So, there's no profit in it, but seems like a decent price.

I just bought a nice first year edition for 200.00 on cr monterey. Very nice. The first year was better than later as it had sprint parts where the later models had the much more inferior edge components. Also,, i believe these are very very steep bikes so the ride will be harsh and twitchy not for long rides but short criteriums

Actually, I think the nicest one of these I had was the third year of production-89/90 with the cantilever chainstays. Supposedly the harshest ride of all, but I found it very comfy. 7 speeds and shifted silently with a Shimano (!) FW on the back.
http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy254/rccardr/Misc%20Cannondale%20completed%20builds/BlackLightningrightside1000pxl.jpg

Actually, I think the nicest one of these I had was the third year of production-89/90 with the cantilever chainstays. Supposedly the harshest ride of all, but I found it very comfy. 7 speeds and shifted silently with a Shimano (!) FW on the back.
http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy254/rccardr/Misc%20Cannondale%20completed%20builds/BlackLightningrightside1000pxl.jpg

Perhaps, but I wonder which is valued more as a collectors bike?

+1 As a collector's bike, I think that first year Sprint model is the most desirable. +1 Edge components are on the cheap side.

As to ride, I defer to Dr Cannondale, as he has ridden and owned a lot more Cannondales than I have for sure.