Originally Posted by
BassNotBass
From the picture provided the second one looks like an electro-forged ('Chicago') Schwinn frame although I wasn't aware of cruiser frames being built that way, only diamond frames like the Varsity.
All the "cheap" models were electroforged during a certain era. Cruisers and Sting-Rays included.
OP. Look up the serial number and you will know the production year of that frame. It looks like the last year for electroforged cruisers was 1983 or 1984.
The bike in your photo looks TIG welded, so somebody put an older Ashtabula forged fork on a newer frame.
Edit: Actually, that fork might be one of the tubular forks that mimics the flat blade forged forks. As near as I can tell, it looks like the tubular "flat" fork was introduced in 1995. the on line catalogs are missing pages from certain years.
