qcpmsame 

What a nice find, you should enjoy that one for some time. I had a '91 300 and it was a great bicycle for crits, very nimble but not as harsh as some would tell you, to me. Post more pics and a ride report when you can, please.

Bill

embankmentlb

I would get it! The ride is harsh & makes the bike bouncy on ruff roads. This is my 87 that I purchased new.

embankmentlb

Check out the massive stays!

turky lurkey

Great to hear the Cannondale enthusiasm! Wish I could change the title of this thread to (Show me your Cannondale!), although that probably already exists. A few nice ones have been posted here already.

My new bike is so nice I've decided to go to the bike shop and buy some proper B.B tools and a headset wrench before getting into it, rather than just use my usual crescent wrench, channel locks and screw driver methods of removal and adjustments.

oldbikenewbike

Black Lightning....

turky lurkey

Sweet!

lasauge 

Cool to see this went to somebody on C&V, I'd seen that bike listed several times over the past month but couldn't justify purchasing it myself.

Turky, what part of the Springs are you in? I'm just north of UCCS myself and have all the proper tools to work on bikes of that era if you need any help.

KZBrian

Great color! I have an '86 SR400 that I bought new. Fast and agile.

cehowardGS

Great score!

Same price I paid for my 89 Black Lightning.

embankmentlb

Probably the coolest Dale of this era was the 87 White Lightning. White frame & white painted Suntour Superbe component group. It was second down in price to the Dura Ace model. Every bike in the Cannondale lineup was sharp for 87.

embankmentlb

bradtx

Yes. Proper tools are in order! The greatest appeal of your Cannondale is it's unmolested, mostly original condition, something highly prized whatever C&V is considered. If offered, take a maintenance class from a local bike shop or donate some time if there is a bicycle co-op in your area.

The "Cannondale crowd" also has non Cannondale interests, myself Ibis and Olmo. Cannondales are my main interest, however.

Brad

BentLink

Have fun with that! My 86 SR400 carries tons of non-original parts. I bought it new as a teenager, and it's now my winter bike. It does transmit some buzz, but the stiff frame also climbs well. Plenty of miles left on that one.

neo_pop_71

I know from your initial posting that you were looking for a nice sporty steel bike, congrats on scoring the Cannondale, I know it'll do very well by you! If you were still interested in that steel bike, there is one in as nice of shape (from what you can tell from lousy internet photos), here is a link.

https://cosprings.craigslist.org/bik/4280336853.html

[h=2]1983 Nishiki road bike 52cm - $125 (West side)[/h]Nishiki Cresta made in Japan, in great shape! Made in Japan, Hand Crafted by Kawamura, with High Quality Champion # 1 Chrome Molyboen Butted Tube Tange Steel.



Not knowing the fit of your new beautiful C'dale, big or small, this nice gem might be on the small side but I figured I bring it to your attention.

Peace,

-D-

p.s. No, I have connection with the seller, I just figured it was a good deal for turky lurkey to check out.

shoota 

That's not a road bike per se, more of a full blown tourer but it is in nice shape and worth more than that.

neo_pop_71

Agreed shoota, I figured he may not even be in the market but there would be no harm done in bringing it to turky lurkey attention. I'm especially fond of the bolt on Cyclone shifter, my Nishiki was brazed and I always wished it was closer to the head tube, this one has the bonus of being adjusted to suit the reach. Given the condition, it certainly looks to be worth a $100.00 offer!

shoota 

That's for sure. My buddy just sold a similar one for $300.

turky lurkey

Well I took the Cannondale out for a quick 9 miles or so this afternoon, it's definitely a quick accelerator and a fun responsive bike. I still need to get it dialed in a bit for myself. I don't care for the super thin bar tape, I'm used to having tape with a little cushion and the original tape is also really slippery. Even though I hate to remove the original I'm going to replace it with something softer and with more grip, that will make it easier to service the cables anyway.

Thanks for the tip! That does look like a nice bike, I have seen it before and might have been well served with it, though it might be a little on the small side. I usually keep up on the local C.L. pretty good. I'm pretty much at the end of my budget for bikes for awhile, both financially and spatially. The other bike that I had been eying was an 87 Schwinn Super Sport in Pueblo that had been listed for months (you may have seen it, funny it just dropped off the list). The guy was asking $300.00 for it and I had finally convinced myself to spend the money on it, but when I had the guy send me some close up pics. I saw that it had some pretty bad scuffs. For the price he wanted I'd hoped it was almost perfect.

Cool! Thanks for the offer on the tools, I'm just going to go ahead and buy a few more tools. I'll use them, I work on bikes all the time. So far I have been able to get away with minimal specialty tools, many of the jobs can be done with regular hand tools it just takes longer and there is a little more risk of damaging something or scratching the paint. The Cannondale is so nice I'm not willing to take the risk that I normally do.

I live right next to Bear Creek Dog Park, I actually rode up Lower Gold camp road this afternoon, it's about 4.5 miles to where the pavement ends from my house, thats where I give all my projects their initial test run.
I'm a Mechanical engineering student at UCCS, most of my cycling is commuting to school.

If you want to go for a ride sometime, send me a PM, I might be busy this weekend as I have family coming to town, but I am often available.

bradtx

turkey lurkey, No point in having a bike that isn't properly fitted to you, comfortable to ride and equipped as you wish. Keep the original parts in the event you decide to sell it as you maybe able to extract a bit of a premium price for originality.

One thing common with many manufacturers of the era was the use of narrow handle bars. Just something to consider when working on the fit, and prior to wrapping the bars with new tape.

Brad

turky lurkey

Good point, I actually like the narrow bars though as I have fairly narrow shoulders. I think the bike will be a good fit for me after I get it dialed in. The only change I might eventually make mechanically is to put on a free wheel with at least one larger cog because the bike is geared pretty high and I live in a mountainous region. It s fine for short rides but it would be nice to have a bail out gear for longer rides or really steep hills.

bradtx

turkey lurkey, There's a special tool for the freewheel, but if you don't plan on swapping freewheels on a regular basis have the bike shop do the swap for less than the cost of the tool. You can even install a 39T inner chain ring if you wish. These bikes are very suited for upgrades and modernizing. Have fun with yours.

Brad

turky lurkey

Thanks Brad,
Yes a 39t inner chain ring may be in order at some point as well. How do you think that would affect the shifting to the big 52t chain ring, would it still shift smoothly?

trailmix

I am running a 40/52 on one of my bikes with no shifting issues so I don't think a 39 would cause a problem. Bikes of that era always seem to be geared for going down hills, not up.

qcpmsame 

Good sounding snag for you TL. I would grab a '91 300 again if it ever came up in our area. Nothing really special just a bicycle in my life that was satisfying at a time I really needed some stress relief. Not sure what tires yours has on it right now but I have found that a 25 width tire makes a difference in how the aluminum frames ride. I never had problems with any of the three C'Dales I have owned as far as their ride quality, I am no expert about these things, they just feel right for me. My current CAAD 10 4 suits me in most every way it could, I am a really happy camper about Cannondale bikes.

Hope your studies in ME go well, I am a grey beard Civil Engineer, degreed in Environmental Engineering ('80, UWF,) and love most everything about the fields in engineering. Thanks for sharing the nice find with us here.

Trailmix, you have a very impressive stable listed in your sig line, well done, sir, well done.

Bill

bradtx

I swapped a 42-52T crank set with a 39-52T crank set to appease my knee on the '89 and there was no difference in shift quality.

Brad