Gaianeze

Greetings good sires from 'round the globe
(This is my first post, bear with me for aficionado flaws/wrong placement of topic)

I am a newfound bicycle enthusiast at 21 yrs, about to make my first major bicycle purchase since I was a kiddo.
On a website bazar I located a racer bike from the turn of the century that Mario Cippolini apparantly
won quite a few sprints on in Le Tour de France. The model is listed as a Cannondale CAAD3 Saeco Special at 200 bucks.
I am now anxious to hear from some of you seasoned bicyclist veterans - Am I being hoaxed? I am not an avid bike mechanic at all but based on my research it looks as if the forks are cheap replaced ones. The frame is 56 cm, equipped with 14 gears.
He lists the crank, pedals and gearing as Shimano, strikes me also as somewhat massproduced dirt cheap wares. But could it be that the frame is legitimate? The downtube looks fat as it should, but the fact that it is black underneath also raises my suspicion.

Apologize the blabber, but I am just not going to be scammed by someone talented at recoloring and putting on stickers, dangit Please share your expertise with a rook! It is greatly appreciated, looking forward to seeing yoo on the asphalt abroad.

Peace, lovin' and godspeed to y'all
Jan from Denmark

3alarmer 

3alarmer 

.
...honestly, I see a Cannondale and it just looks like every other Cannondale to me, so I'm not much help. You might ask for some provenance, but at that price, I doubt it will be convincing. I don't get why you are concerned .........200 dollars is not a huge sum to pay for a working Cannondale with decent paint and mechanicals over here in California. The fork does look a little off for that bike.

oddjob2

Start here to find the serial number, then look up the catalog and model.

plonz 

Ditto, ditto and ditto. Forget the TDF lore, a complete bike with nice wheels and a decent brifters group is worth $200 all day long.

bikemig 

+ 1, assuming the bike fits.

Darth Lefty 

I had a similar livery bike but a few years later. Should be a very nice bike if it's all there and functional.

Homebrew01

Looks like a good bike for the price. Not sure about the black on the downtube. Some kind of after-sale added paint protection from road bits ??

Here's a link to old Cannondale's. Probably a 1997 or so based on a quick glance. Parts often get swapped & replaced over the years, so an older bike will usually not match catalog specs.

Cannondale Catalogs | VintageCannondale.com