koles

Cannondale 3.0 serries frame!
Serial number is #85609880097 . 56-frame size,0988-september 1988 production date,0097-bike number
Now what's number 8 stands for in front??? Thank you

wrk101

Misread, that style serial number, the first number is either a 0, 5 or 6, for rear spacing. I would expect it to be a "6".

Doesn't matter, as it is easy enough to just measure the frame, decal layout changed every year, so its easy to ID Cannondales. Frame size is center of bottom bracket to top of TOP TUBE, not top of seat tube.

At best, serial number only tells you size and when it was made, tells nothing about model.

Just about every Cannondale serial number from that era is hard to read.


Cannondale had a second serial number style for that era, which I normally see, that is a longer number with exact date (xxxxxx), something like 060588 (June 5, 1988).

OldsCOOL

I have an '88 criterium series that one could only guess the model. Cannondales used that frame on several models and it was the componentry (I cant spell grouppo) package that was the model distinction. To those of us wanting to build our own, this is a huge plus.

When you get bored, somewhere on the forums is a thread discussing the factory frame artist who built the frame. His stamp is found on the rear dropouts.

Welcome to the forums!

OldsCOOL

Here is the vintage cannondale page on serial number coding:

Vintage Cannondale - Information and Help