I too have a criterium. Not a black lightning but a "pink panther???". I was hesitant to get the bike at first because it was pink and the other juniors in my area had newer, carbon bikes. But I got it and I love it. I can easily keep up with them and even pass them when I want. I'm still scared to go fast on corners so I need to really work on that. Might add some black paint to the frame or a black fork. Also going to get new wheels one day. But I need a name for it, for some reason pink panther doesn't cut it.

Nah! Leave it pink! It's a breast cancer awareness bike as-is. :thumb::p:D

Vintage Cannondale Black Lightning, made in USA 18 speed Road bike for

There's one on my local CL.
It looks too small for me, but if someone wants me to take a look or something, I may be able to.

No no relation to seller by the way

Somebody put a triple on that.

Corners....I hear you on that. Working on that myself. It helped when I joined in last week on my first group ride without realizing the level of the group and held on while we blasted out. Plenty of hard cornering and having to learn to figure it out fast without eating it or causing a pile up. That helped - but still, this bike, this frame asks for a certain kind of attention.

Get those new wheels. I JUST installed a new wheelset today on my BL (more ******* pics coming) following the footprints/advice of oldsCOOL and PastorBob. Took it out tonight with the new wheels and the thing was like a different bike. I didn't realize how much difference the change in wheels would make. The originals were in good shape (the build), but I wanted to try these "modern" wheels out on it. Good grief. Took an already mega responsive bike and amplified that x 50. Cornering felt MUCH easier, yet as if I could be more aggressive. Just felt different. When you can, go for it. That rear wheel at 130mm slipped right in without hardly any dropout coaxing. Less than I thought, at least. 4mm or so isn't much.

Woo! That looks like a nice one! Bet it won't be listed for long.

What wheels? How much do they weigh?

This is dedicated to oldbikenewbike. ;P

Being a bit of a follower in the line, drafting off of our fellow oldsCOOL, I found myself with a set of Vuelta Corsa Lite wheels. Too, I wanted to store the original wheelset that came on the BL and quit banging it up out there on the cracked roads on which I ride. Just didn't have the heart. They're cleaned up and stored properly while I start rolling on the VCL wheels for now. These may move over to a second bike...when/if that happens, at which point I'll throw the original wheels back on the BL.

Rear wheel practically dropped right in...just as some of you said. Was out of town and dropped by an LBS there to support them (barely) where I grabbed a SRAM 7 speed cassette off the table of stuff they were clearing out. Goes up to some huge 32 gear or something, probably would be great for some hills in the location where I'm about to move. Otherwise, I'll throw something else on there later. It works, except for that gear, which will take some adjustments to make it work. No need right now, all other shifting works GREAT.

Anyway, Vueltas...they aren't (fill in the blank) brand, but first 10-ish short miles on them and I'm impressed. Already mentioned the differences in performance, but glad to see how they work out over time, especially the hubs. Glad some of you have gotten some long miles out of them. They got bumped around this evening, and will be knocking down another moderate group ride tomorrow, weather permitting. I've not been a huge fan of the brakes on this BL. Haven't mentioned that previously. Pads look good, but I bet need replacing, that's probably next on the list. However, they DO like the newer, machined braking surface of the new wheels. Felt much more in control on this ride.

Found three new chips in the paint on the underside of the downtube. :cry:

Ah well, better decide now whether this should stay locked up and be a museum piece or should wear battle scars. It has spent a long life in a garage....

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...ps61deaa19.jpg

Forgot to post a picture earlier, but here you go. The reasons for wanting to paint it is 1) Lots of paint chips 2) To try and tone down some of the pink
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=394818

Love the wheels, glad they work well for you. You just clipped 2Lbs+ off the weight. The wheels are very light but also the move to cassette and the provided alloy quick releases they provide are a nice weight savings. And they look killer. I get looks and compliments everywhere it goes. Performance? They change the personality of the bike.

Rock On!

I have to say, the bike looks GREAT!! And from what you describe as its new handling attributes, it was a good decision. I'm just a purist at heart...which is a good and bad thing at the same time. Comes from being an Art Director, I guess.

But in the end, the bike is made to be ridden and enjoyed no matter what you do to it. I really have to stop treating mine like a Museum piece and take it out more often. I can get away with it due to other bikes I can ride...but I just love the way this one feels!!!!

fred

ThirdCog...in case you want to remember what your bike looked like originally....:rolleyes:

Fred, I'm in the design world myself....thus can relate to the purist heart. Love that photo of your BL in its natural state. Got to get me one of those bottles!

Absolutely changes the personality. A local group had a ride scheduled for tonight but the weather threw everything off. I hung around a bit until it passed and a couple of us went on out for an easy 12 mile rainy ride in the dark. I don't have a lot of experience yet with those two particular conditions in road riding, so I was glad to have the experience. The wheels performed flawlessly, as did the shifting. I still wussed out in a couple of tight corners with a lot of loose gravel (and in the dark with rain), but I'm running some Bontrager AW3 tires on these wheels–because that's what I happened to have–and they gripped in fine.

Got a relocation coming in a week and half or so, and the schedule's going to thicken quickly. I'm hoping to get in some longer miles before then.

Still the bike seems to laugh at me....rookie. It scoffs and rolls its eyes.

I will say this: when I arrived this afternoon, the bike stirred up some intimidation apparently. One said, "uh oh, here comes an evil DeathStar bike."
Ha! Never fails to be a tremendous conversation piece.