JohnnyBee

I'll be taking my Black Lightning up to Trexlertown this weekend. What is a fair asking price ?

Colnago Mixte

Depends on condition. But even mint and still un-assembled, I can't see one of those ever selling for more than $400. In more typical condition, maybe $250-300, at least in my area. And it would languish for weeks at that price too.

bargainguy

A lot of these get stripped of the parts that made the bike stand out: black/gold Sprint derailleurs & shifters, Sugino black/gold crank, black Dia-Compe brakes, black Nitto bars, and a black pantographed Nitto stem. If any of these are missing, the price goes down significantly.

Here's one of mine, which I blinged out with a gold KMC chain (these puppies aren't cheap) and a gold bottle cage. FMV $350-400 in my area.

wrk101

Do people get FMV out of bikes at Trexlertown? Or is it more bargain hunters? The Suntour Sprint Cannondale Black Lightning is worth double (at least to me, perhaps not to the market) what the Suntour Edge equipped Black Lightning.

1989 supposedly came with Suntour Edge, so my estimate is lower than above, and without pictures, I can't make a good guess. 1987 and 1988 came with Sprint, 1989 and 1990 had Edge. But I am not an expert on this model.

bargainguy

Trexlertown could actually mean two swaps, the small one at the Trexlertown fire dept grounds, and the Lehigh Valley Velodrome swap, which is about a million times bigger. The fire dept swap is mostly antiques and classics. The Velodrome swap has some antiques/classics but is mostly modern stuff, and a lot of it.

In 2006, I did the Lehigh Valley swap and sold a BL for $350. My memory of that bike is dim as far as which year it was made and how original it was, but I do remember it selling about an hour after it opened to the public. So yeah, if you're jonesing for a BL and you go to the Velodrome swap, you might find one. The buyer was thrilled to find one, it's what he came for.

LBPhil

I just picked a 1987 Black Lightning up at my local landfill's "last chance" shop for $9 so I hope you do better than that. The bike appears to be in really good, stock shape but is missing the pedals. Any ideas where I could find original replacements? (any idea what the originals were?)

Thanks for any help and thanks for letting me lurk around in the shadows of this forum and learn so much.

Kevindale

Hi LBPhil, welcome to posting here. I recommend you start a new thread, and unless you're looking for an appraisal, put it in the regular C&V forum with a title like "Questions about Cannondale Black Lightning pedals." And pictures always get more responses. Either quickly run up 9 more posts, or host some photos somewhere and post the link (without the "https://" part).

mattamos311

I fell into an ‘89 BL cannondale but it’s got all Dura Ace components. I’ve been looking and haven’t seen a BL w/ Dura Ace. Question is; were these replaced or did they have a Dura Ace black and gold BL?

rccardr 

Cannondale never issued a Black Lightning with Dura Ace. Always Suntour.

However...I've custom built at least a dozen Black Lightning frames with Dura Ace components.

wrk101

No it did not come with DA. On the other hand, all of the bikes I own that have Dura Ace parts on them (4) did not come with Dura Ace either. I have never seen black and gold Dura Ace, first generation Dura Ace did have an all black version that is worth serious $$$.

And of course, not all black Cannondale road bikes are Black Lightning. Easy enough to slap a sticker on there and call it whatever you want.

Now at the right price, the DA bits alone can be worth it regardless.

Here's a black lightning decal set for $31.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Cannondale-Black-Lightning-Decal-Sticker-1987-1988/142731421306?var=441728660280&hash=item213b74a67a:m:mpZSX-bWaIhcLTNtu-dgGFw

Mistafishy

I have a 1988 BL. I threw out the pedals two years ago. I regret that decision.

More to the OP's point, I would expect to get $300 for mine pretty easily since it's in such good condition. I live in a HCOL area, so if I waited for the right buyer I could make $500. But that would be a lot of waiting.