Cannondale catalog 1987

[Tickdoc]

I think I got this in the mail the year I bought my black lightening. Thought some of you would like to see some of it. Good times. Still hoping to get that black lightening back some day...

[fmradio516]

Very cool. My birth year. Let me know if you want to sell

Also one of my favorite bikes was a Cannondale Mavic Neutral support bike(the all yellow ones with black carbon fork) Man that bike was sweet.. why did I ever sell it...

[Dave]

I was 34 years old at that time. I had a C'dale sport touring model of some sort, light blue metallic, with the longer chain stays. I had a rack on the back, with a kiddie seat mounted to it, to take the little one out on a ride around Richards-Gebaur Air Force base. At that time, the former military housing was converted to civilian housing.

[redir]

This is a great blast from the past for me. I was 16 years old working at Danbury Airport for an FBO called Connecticut Air Service (I think) and the president or CEO of Cannondale, Joe Montgomery (I think) who was also a pilot had a Cessna Cheyenne there that I used to refuel and clean up and hangar.

He used to ride a Cannondale, I would imagine top of the line, and lock it up to the fence and hop in his Cheyenne and fly off to business meetings.

Ever since then I've wanted a C'Dale and now I own two A Synapse and a LEfty MTB.

Of course C'Dale has come a long way since then.

[majorpat]

I was 16 and saved up to buy the blue, airbrushed model with Shimano 105 (Biopace chainrings). Rode the snot out of that bike for a decade. I still have the frame, hanging onto it until Cannondale needs one for their museum. Thanks for posting this trip down memory lane.
Pat

[old_fat_and_slow]

How could anyone resist that Black Lightning! That looks so schweet!!!

[Tickdoc]

Originally Posted by old_fat_and_slow

How could anyone resist that Black Lightning! That looks so schweet!!!

I saved for three years for it. Spent all my car money on that bike. Sold it to old friend and its hanging in his garage. I’ll get it back someday.

[Blue Jays]

Sweet throwback post! Love it...a terrific find. Thanks for sharing.

[jb_11]

May dad had that SR600 in blue. I'd love to recreate it, if I come across one sometime.

[johnmdesigner]

Mine was white with blue logos and Shimano 105 with Biopace chainrings.
I loved it. The 105 indexing worked perfectly and I don’t think I ever had to adjust it (unlike the Campy indexing).
I hated those s### cable guides though. The first one closest to the headset broke in the first week.

[benb]

In 1987 were these Cannondale frames already aluminum?

The tubes do look oversized already in these pictures but I can't tell for sure from the pictures.

I was only 10 in 1987, no awareness. I think I got my first steel framed multi-gear bike in 1989, Cannondale would have been way out of reach in our family at the time.

I started riding in 2000 I fell like at that time Cannondale still seemed to have that edge with US craftsmanship.

[JasonF]

I remember seeing a Black Lightning prominently displayed in an LBS window and drooling over it. Forget the MSRP ($400-ish?) and thinking to my
then-college freshman self that one day I'd own a bike that nice.

[majorpat]

Originally Posted by benb

In 1987 were these Cannondale frames already aluminum?

The tubes do look oversized already in these pictures but I can't tell for sure from the pictures.

I was only 10 in 1987, no awareness. I think I got my first steel framed multi-gear bike in 1989, Cannondale would have been way out of reach in our family at the time.

I started riding in 2000 I fell like at that time Cannondale still seemed to have that edge with US craftsmanship.

Yes, aluminum was the 1987 carbon fiber and it was the gimmick, for lack of a better term, that Cannondale sold on.

[Hawker]

I had an '85 SR400 in the 48cm size. Due to the oversizes tubes it had a funky design where front triangle came together. These were marketed as being very comfortable because "aluminum doesn't pass on the road vibrations the way steel does". To demonstrate that they showed a guy hitting two steel bars together and "thwang" the vibration went up his arms to his teeth. Then he did the same thing with two aluminum bars; "clunk". No vibration at all which means lot's of comfort.

Let me tell you that in the 48cm size...this was like riding a bike made of cement. There was NO GIVE and stiff doesn't begin to tell the story. But it was purple and I didn't know much and I rode it a lot. But I was young and immune to pain. I sold it just two years ago and wasn't sad to see it go.

But lots of credit to Cannondale and Joe Montgomery. They built an incredible company with some real outside the box thinking and some great marketing. But those aluminum welds the first years were some of the ugliest things ever.

[Tickdoc]

Originally Posted by JasonF

I remember seeing a Black Lightning prominently displayed in an LBS window and drooling over it. Forget the MSRP ($400-ish?) and thinking to my
then-college freshman self that one day I'd own a bike that nice.

More like $8-900. The superbe pro was superbe. Huge amount back then. I wanted a colnago or a ciocc w campy but they were not to be had here and the lighter weight of the aluminum won me over. Mine had gold anodized superbe pro with black cranks, Cinelli cockpit/seat and there was gold flake in the paint that just made the thing pop.