fasthair

Found this on Craigslist last night for pretty cheap, I paid 135 bucks for it. I know it doesn't have the original wheels, it has some Trek brand on it. Other than that it appears to be all original components from what I can tell minus the seat of course.

According to the serial number, from what I can tell from Vintagecannonodale.com, it's 60cm built 01/02/1987 and is the sixteenth one built that year. What has me confused is the decals. From all of the pictures I've seen of the SR800 Black Lightning, which I think this is, the Cannondale decals are on the top tube and as you can see this one has them on the down tube.

It's got some paint chips and is far from perfect but should make for a nice rider. I'm going to clean it up, remove that stupid sticker on the seat tube, see if I can find the correct wheels and seat, which I'm sure might be far too expensive, and just enjoy it.

So does this classify as a vintage bike? After seeing some of the very nice older bikes in this forum I decided it was time to see if I could find something that is kind of rare and cool. How did I do? Anyone know more about what I bought here or have any comments about it?

Thanks,
fasthair

RFC

Great find and deal. BTW, black is very easy to touch up.

oldbikenewbike

What a sweet deal! I wish I could find one for that price in a 63cm frame here on Long Island. One day......

DarkKnight1968

I have an '87 and there are two main differences: (1) decals are on the top tube (as you suspected) and (2) different brakes (sorry, I don't have a picture here at work). Mine appears to be a late 1987 build for an early1988 as the compnents are the same as what went on the '88.

oldbikenewbike

WOW! Is that clean! Man, am I jealous!!
As far as decals, I have a 1998 Cannondale Criterium with the decal on the top tube. I had thought that in 2000 was when the company had shifted them to the down tube??

DarkKnight1968

I love this bike. That picture is from the day I brought it home last fall before I cleaned it up. It even has the original seat (which is on the shelf right now because it wouldn't quite break in the way I would have hoped, but I can't get rid of it).

fasthair

Thanks guys. I've been keeping an eye open looking for one of these and when this popped up last night for that price I jumped on it.

Yours makes mine look like a pile! I have a lot of elbow grease to put into this one but when I get done it should represent pretty well. I would really like to find a set of correct wheels which I'm sure isn't going to be easy. For the seat I'll try to find something close to the original in a Brooks or something. Is the original one you have leather?

The decal has me all confused. You say you thought it was 2000 they switched to the down tube but I have a 96 H600 Hybrid that has down tube Cannondale decal. I sure would like to figure this out.

This is just how the bike appears from bringing it home last night and wheeling it out the door this morning to take some quick pictures of it so I could post it here and help tie up the loose ends.

Thanks for the feedback so far folks.

fasthair

supafast213

Here's a recent pic of my 1987 BL. The decal is on the top tube as mentioned before.

Here is a link to my build thread. Maybe it can help.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...lack-Lightning
I have a nice set of stock wheels if you need them.

DarkKnight1968

"Yours makes mine look like a pile! I have a lot of elbow grease to put into this one but when I get done it should represent pretty well. I would really like to find a set of correct wheels which I'm sure isn't going to be easy. For the seat I'll try to find something close to the original in a Brooks or something. Is the original one you have leather?"

Yes, the original seat is leather. The problem with the original seat on mine is that although it looks pretty good, I don't think it was cared for very well. I spent all winter riding it on the trainer and it never changed its shape. I kept it for the sake of it but put a new seat on it.

Mine did not have the original wheels. It also did not have the orginal seat post (even though it was the original seat). Everything else was original, almost no rust and the gold parts look pretty good. Chain was replaced at some point because in the catalog it appears to be a gold chain.

As I indicated, from the catalog mine has an '87 serial number, but a mix of '87 and '88 components. Your serial number is clearly for '87, but the decal is still a mystery. I know that they made a couple commemorative editions of the BL, but then the serial number should be different. Some of those later editions did have the decal on the downtube instead of the top.

fasthair

Very nice! You wouldn't happen to have the old stock saddle kicking around wanting to get rid of it would you? I like your wheels. I was kicking around the idea of some black Mavics' Aksium because they are pretty cheap and tough.

Edit: Stock wheels you say? Like the ones on DarkKight's bike?... oops his aren't stock. Black hubs and all? Will I have to sell any body parts to buy them?

I just cruised Ebay real quick and am feeling pretty good about my purchase. They have a couple on there that are as rough as mine starting at $500!

fasthair

supafast213

Stock wheels are Wolber t 430's w/ grey box section rims and Sansin sealed bearing hubs in black. I also have the original Cinelli seat.

The original seat can be seen in my build thread, the wheels came off the night I brought the bike home as the tires were crap.

marley mission

ya done good OP - enjoy that canny

fasthair

Oh the chain... then chain. How cool would it be to find one of those? My seat stem is stock, as far as I know, but will need work to bring back too.

Speaking of guys. Where is your Made in the USA decal and does it look like this one? I've seen photos of both like mine and with the flag in the seat tube. More mysteries.



fasthair

DsmBerg

Nice work. I tried to get some buddies to jump on this ad (too small for me) and it was long gone before they got it. Great bike!

fasthair

I'd sure be interested in both.

Thank you. I not sure when I will get to but I'm sure I will enjoy it very much. It will be fun to compare it to my modern Synapse.

fasthair

fasthair

I was riding home from work when a buddy text me about it knowing I was looking for one. The guy did have it listed wrong, it's a 60 and not a 58 like he had listed. I was a bit concerned about it being too big since I ride a 56 Synapse. Since I couldn't see the serial number last night I didn't know it was a 60 but it felt like it fit good so I went for it.

Here's the kicker. He bought the bike for the seat that was on it. I don't remember what it was but it wasn't stock I know that. He also said if he didn't sell it he was going to part it out!!! So I saved one from the wrecking ball as it were.

fasthair

Cache

Terrific score, well done. I paid a bit more for a 1990 63cm and have been fixing it up a bit at a time. Weird with that downtube huge decal. Have fun with it!

DsmBerg

Wow. Check it out. Here's the ad that he bought it from for the Selle Italia Flite 10 days ago.... This is hilarious. Hope he didn't really pay $300 or you really got a gift!!

https://desmoines.craigslist.org/bik/3258381184.html

fasthair

Thank you. It's going to take me some time to get this one on the road again. I'm sure if I aired up the tires and throw on a saddle I have laying around I could ride it. I've got other things to ride so I'll just take my time and get it cleaned and tuned up. Yeah the decal has me baffled.

Sizing it weird. When I told my friend who spotted this bike that I thought it was going to be too big he stated that the older bikes seem to be small for their size compared to modern bikes. While this bike is bigger then my 56 Synapse I don't think it is as big as a 58 Synapse I tried on a year ago. That was clearly too big for me.

You have a might fine corral of bicycles there my friend!!!

Wow he must have wanted that saddle BAD! That is for sure the bike, he said he had for about a week. I must have missed that ad but there is no way I would have gave even close to the asking price after seeing it condition. Don't get me wrong it's a not a bad bike but needs some TLC and some money to bring it up to anything that can be rode reliably and comfortably.

To all. I seen a post here and now I can't find it. The post stated that Dupli-Color has a Toyota color I think it was that matches the black with metal flake. Anyone happen to know what it is? I would like to use an airbrush to touch up the paint on this.

fasthair

Rocket-Sauce 

What's old is new again....From Interbike 2012
2013 CAAD10 Black Edition
https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/...and-mtb/238501

fasthair

I went in to my local Cannondale dealer to talk about my BL but my guy was off for the day. While there one of the guys showed me the 2013 catalog and this bike in particular. They have three models of these new "Black Inc." bike for 2013, this one, a Synapse and SuperSix Evo. Their web site must have the prices messed up because the CAAD 10 is the cheapest at $4,100 and it has DI2 shifting. The Synaspse is $7,700 and the Evo is a staggering $13,310 and they both feature Dura Ace 9000 shifting. Something doesn't seem right there. Could the carbon frames of the latter two be that much more over the Alloy CAAD10? I have no idea but it's safe to say you won't be seeing any of these in my garage until they become C&V. Must admit though the CAAD10 is sharp looking.

fasthair

supafast213

Fasthair, Are you sure the wheels on your BL aren't stock?

fasthair

Positive. They are some Trek branded wheels with no name hubs. With some luck I've found stock wheels and saddle already. Which reminds me I need to get over to Paypal in the morning.

fasthair

zonatandem

When Black Lighting first came out, one fellow ordered the 50th anniversary gold plated Campy gruppo for it.
Looked fab!

noglider 

$135 is a fabulous deal.