These are nickel plated (dull because I tried the oxcylic acid dip) and have the closed fork legs, not caps, and have a 5" steerer tube. As you can see the original sticker (I guess it's original) reads Chatsworth, California. Who can tell me their correct age?

'77, '78, I'd guess. Chatsworth decal, not Northridge.

Those should clean up nicely.

For era. they are the second gen design. First years had the legs about 1/4" longer than the end of the flange.

1978 was the first year for 5" steer tube.

So then, would they be more era-correct than the forks that are on this frame right now? These forks have the caps in the legs.

MX-II's were designed with a 4" steer tube where the Pro-Line was 5"

Redline made a 5" steerer tube first gen forks (1975) . Mel Stoutsenberger ran them on his modofied girl's Schwinn. Rick Twomey also has a set on the McDowell/Langosh "101" hack.

They also were used on the early Champions

The forks would be 76 to early 79 era but the Chatsworth decals would make them late 77 to early 79

How long is the steer tube itself? Forks made for 5" head tube will actually have a steer tube a little over 6" long and these don't look that long. They would be the correct era for the MX II in the photo, if the serial number is below 8000-8300ish it would have Northridge decals but if the serial number is larger than 8000-8300 it would have Chatsworth decals


If the forks are factory drilled, this would narrow it down to mid 78 or 79

Meant to say Head tube vs. Steer tube. Production Redlines from '74 - '77 had 4" head tubes. The new Pro-Line frames in '78 introduced the 5" head tube.

Thee forks are 5" total length for the steerer, so they are for a 4" headtube. Serial number on the frame is 11143.

Thanks for the info guys!

11143 would be an early/mid 78 so those forks would be correct on that frame.

IIRC, with a painted frame, the forks would be mild steel. Nickle frames got chromolly forks.

The mild steel forks looked identical, but were a heavier.

The mild steel forks were identical but from all info I have found the mild steel forks only came in black and were only offered as an individual (cheaper version) fork and not paired up with any chrome moly frames. the forks that came on the painted versions of the 77-79 MX II were chrome moly just like the frame.

If anyone has any ads or info on these, please post them

I have a pair of the mild steel forks and they are noticeably heavier. I will see if I can weight them and post the difference.

They also came in Yellow a little later on and they are heavy as heck

I have a set of Gen 1 mild steel forks right here and they come in at 2lbs 4.5 oz on the postage scale.

Glad to see Jeff back in the game!