look566 rider

Good day all,

Picked up a 1989 Cannondale Black Lightning this week. Will get pics in next day or so. Seems to be all there except few wear items, chain, tires, bar tape and brake pads. Does have the cantilever drop outs. Paint in reasonable condition. Decals are meh. Serial number is correct, 56030389210.

Have done catalog research on Vintage Cannondale site. The '89 catalog does not show this bike. '87 & '90 do have pics. What I am wondering is, did the '89 have a gold chain? Reason I ask is the '87 shows gold links, '90 shows standard type chain.

Does anyone have a good idea on what the bar tape was like? Pics of '87 bar tape appear to be black with some type of speckles.

All else appears correct, little gold bands on the bars, gold print on derailleurs, correct hubs & rims etc. Will be installing correct style tires, bar tape and gold chain if specs call for this.

Look forward to any advice given!

Cheers, Mike

Dave Cutter

Congratulations are in order! The black Lighting is a true collectable grail bike. It has it all. A fine machine.

Rcrxjlb

For reference: https://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/bi...401322601.html

xiaoman1 

Looks smaller than a 60...too bad many of the BL parts have been swapped out.
Best, Ben

F.Bacchus 

That reference black lightning has some aftermarket derailleurs. Original would have come with a black anodized suntour spirt front derailleur with gold lettering. An interesting one cause it was reverse action.

look566 rider

OK kids! Pics attached now. Still looking to see if anyone can tell me if 1989 Black Lightning came with Gold Chain. As I said before '88 did, '90 did not and can't find factory pic of '89 model.

For the most part decent shape considering. Paint has some defects, anodizing rubbing off on cranks (both sides), couple of the decals are a little rough. Otherwise will get a good cleaning soon. I believe the saddle is leather? If someone could confirm please.

Thanks for any help that can be provided.

stardognine

Yep, that saddle's a nice Italian leather Cinelli. And that full Suntour Edge group is nothing to feel ashamed of, probably on par with 105 or Ultegra. I'm not exactly familiar with Edge, but someone told me about it.
Congrats, I also recently scored an '88 Cannondale, an ST400, also black, but with red decals. 😎

qcpmsame 

Good score, those cantilever stayed frames were one of my favorites. Looks like you have a great start on everything to build up a super Lightnin’

Bill

look566 rider

Thanks for the feedback. Pretty certain I'm going to go preservation route versus restoration. Will be just cool to have and ride during nice weather.

As for the saddle, good to know. I can leather condition a touch. A little dry in spots.

Rocket-Sauce 

While Edge is definitely functional (well, maybe not so much with the brakes -yikes!), it is mostly made of stamped steel and plastic coating. 105 was higher end. Edge/GPX is more comparable to Shimano's Exage.

The Black Lightning bikes were interesting. In '88 and '89, they came with Suntour Sprint -which is comparable to Shimano 600 (but nicer IMO). Then they downgraded them with Edge/GPX. Even though the frames were the same, they hung lower end bits on them.

rhenning

Look566rider you can't post Photo Bucket pictures anymore without paying a fee so none of yours are showing up. I would like to see them but can not. Roger

greg3rd48 

I have an '87 BL that I converted to a Shimano 105 11 speed setup. I appreciated the original appearance and components of the bike but decided that a retro-roadie build would suit me best. I still have many of the original parts (Suntour Sprint RD, FD, crank, pedals, brakes and chain) so if you are missing a part let me know. Great bikes and I am sure that you will be happy once you get it on the road.

Untitled by irishbx4th, on Flickr

look566 rider

Oh well... they were there yesterday.

RobbieTunes

I held off looking at this thread because I don't want to catch BL fever. Then I relent and can't see the pictures.

It's a sign. I'm heeding it.

rccardr 

Heed away, but be prepared to submit eventually.
Have a BL frame that's currently getting a respray by Wanta.
Should be finished in time for SOTR.
It's your size and has your name on it.

look566 rider

Good day all,

Link to imgur album of 1989 Black Lightning. Actually called Cannondale HQ in Bedford to attain answer on chain color. Rep dug into his records and confirmed chain had gold accents on links.

Will be installing gumwall style tire and gold chain as I find parts I like.

https://look566.imgur.com/all

OldsCOOL

Congrats on a great bike nab! You wont be able to stay off that.

stardognine

I do believe you're right, and I had Edge and Sprint mixed up in my noggin. 😉
I was recently reading another old thread, that mentioned the changes made to the later ST-series frames. Like changing from 27" wheels to 700c. As close as I can tell, that happened for the '88 model year, at least for my low-end ST400.

stardognine

That's weird, huh? Obviously, there would be a transition period, but I wouldn't have thought that long. What about your OLD spacing? Mine is 128, so clearly anticipating 8, 9-speed.

stardognine

OK, I'm thinking now, that this might have been a custom order bike or frame. I just checked '87, '88, & '89 catalogs, and those all say 27" wheels too, for the ST models. But mine uses 700c wheels, with short reach 105 calipers. And it's definitely an ST, the gap between the tire & seat tube is huge. 😁

Kontact 

I find the original '87 Black Lightening to be the nicest version. Spring was a very high end group and the bike looked really good. Later versions weren't as high end in their components.

Here's all the old catalogs for your viewing pleasure.
Cannondale Catalogs | VintageCannondale.com

I had an '89 3.0 frameset and my dad has an LL Bean Cannondale sport touring bike from the early '90s. Sidepull brakes, friction shifters and metallic paint. One of my friends at the time had an '88 SR600 with the blue Pegoretti paint job, and another friend had the Crest Team bike.