# Cannondale Black Lightning Team Edition



## TotalRefill (Jun 20, 2011)

I've been looking around Craig's List for a good used bicycle for riding locally/to class/with friends and family and I found a Cannondale Black Lightning Team Edition for sale at $250.

Next to the small picture the seller described it as
-Vintage cannondale road bike
-campy components
-cinelli bars an stem
-ultegra wheels
After asking for a little more information the seller said
"All campy components except for the bar end shifters and rear derailleur which are Shimano Tri Color" and that the seller called Cannondale today to verify that it's a team edition and that they only made 25 specifically for team riders.

Sorry for such a long description, but something seems off about the bike, it sounds too good. Any longtime Cannondalers out there that could help out a youngster?


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## terbennett (Apr 1, 2006)

I have heard of the Black Lightning Edition C-dale. I used to ride with a guy back in the mid 90's that had one. He used to get hit up back then by people wanting to buy it while we were out riding. I believe that it is from the late 80's. My riding buddy's was Campy equipped (however, I saw one E-Bay a while back that was Suntour equipped). If it's the real deal, one way you'll know is that it will say Black Lightning on the chainstays. The seller (or another previous owner) must've changed out the shifters because those had downtube shifters. It is a limited edition model. I think I might have seen five in the last 20 years- three online. After reading about a guy picking up a fairly new CAAD10 for $400 on one of the other posts, this doesn't surprise me. Besides, you are talking about an 80's road bike. $250 isn't too far from what it would be worth.


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## TotalRefill (Jun 20, 2011)

Thanks for the information! He said he'd send me some more pictures soon, and I'll post them here when I get them.
I just went and looked at that CAAD10 post, craziness. One day that kind of deal will walk onto my doorstep....one day....


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

TotalRefill said:


> Thanks for the information! He said he'd send me some more pictures soon, and I'll post them here when I get them.
> I just went and looked at that CAAD10 post, craziness. One day that kind of deal will walk onto my doorstep....one day....


The original Black Lightning was 1988... I'm almost positive it was all Suntour equipped( special black components)...

$250 isn't a bad price for the bike as described...


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## Oxtox (Aug 16, 2006)

go here, you can see several examples of the breed...

Search | Vintage Cannondale


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Those wheels aren't original. Either is the fork or bar end shifters....That is not a bad thing...The bike is 23 years old...stuff wears out and needs to be replaced....

It's a fair price.....it's not all original Black Lightning...


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## TotalRefill (Jun 20, 2011)

Yea I got one picture from this guy and it looks nothing like these other Black Lightnings, so either the team edition threw some major change-ups into the setup or it's a different kind. I see here a silver fork versus the all black one, and cannondale on the bottom tube. he states he changed the down tube shifters so that accounts for their absence.


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## TotalRefill (Jun 20, 2011)

Dave Hickey said:


> Those wheels aren't original. Either is the fork or bar end shifters....That is not a bad thing...The bike is 23 years old...stuff wears out and needs to be replaced....
> 
> It's a fair price.....it's not all original Black Lightning...


That's a good point, and I'm far from a bike purist so if someone wanted to remix the Black Lightning setup I wouldn't complain .
I'm no bike expert so I just I wanted to get some advice on what exactly I am (possibly) getting myself into.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

The wheels are about 10 years old...The Ultegra and Dura Ace wheels just said Shimano..Those are Ultegra wheels


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## Winters (Dec 4, 2011)

TotalRefill,

The team edition model sounds like an interesting bike.

Are there cantilevered rear dropouts on that Black Lightning ?

My production SR900 and SR500 Black Lightening have cantilevered dropouts, but my team edition SR900 has regular droputs.


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## sammil (Apr 16, 2013)

Is black lightning a rare vintage? I found one.


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

sammil said:


> Is black lightning a rare vintage? I found one.


Not rare at all. A huge number of them were sold, with many of them on the used bike marketplace right now.


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## sammil (Apr 16, 2013)

Thanks. I'd better leave it and collect dust again


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

sammil said:


> Thanks. I'd better leave it and collect dust again


Well, they were no worse and no better than any other late 1980s Cannondale. So it might not be a bad bike to look at. IMO, those early Cannondales frames were overbuilt and not prone to failure. They're good bikes to look at if you got $200 - $400 to spend, interested in going fast and definitely *not* interested in comfort or what people now call "a plush ride."


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## JaeP (Mar 12, 2002)

*Cannonball*



wim said:


> Well, they were no worse and no better than any other late 1980s Cannondale. So it might not be a bad bike to look at. IMO, those early Cannondales frames were overbuilt and not prone to failure. They're good bikes to look at if you got $200 - $400 to spend, interested in going fast and definitely *not* interested in comfort or what people now call "a plush ride."


True. I can attest to their durability and their harshness. At 6'2" and 210lbs (back in the day) I sprinted like a gorilla on crack and the bike never flexed. I crashed into a side of a mountain at 45mph and bent the steel fork but the frame was OK. I replaced it with an aluminum fork and it smoothed out the ride a little but not enough. Man, I should've never sold that bike. Here's a pic after the crash.


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