Okay, J.P. raised my hopes, G.P. dashed them, and Chuck Kichline very nicely asked what the hell happened to that bike?!
Here's the story.
Long ago in a galaxy far away.......wait, that's not right
Ah, here we go....... A riding buddy is eye-talian. As in born and raised in Italy. He was back home with his wife some years back (can't remember when - he told me - I forgot) and while there picked this bike up, which was represented as a Pogliaghi with a replacement Serotta fork. When he found out my interest in old bikes, and especially old Italian bikes, he told me of this Pog hanging in the shed that was his wifes' and hadn't been ridden in forever. He would ask the wife, and if she wasn't attached to it, he would give it to me. Boy was I excited! I should have known the condition, however, as he has a reputation for little or no history of bike maintenance. His most often ridden (unknown maker) bike looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years, and his idea of chain care is to oil it once in a while.....that's it. Never cleans it....just oils it. The seat post looks to be frozen solid in the seat tube. Anyway, you get the picture. So, I go to pick up the Pog and my heart stops. The poor thing is trashed. His "shed" turns out to be a dirt floored garden implement repository, and daylight is visible through the walls and roof. The bike has been exposed to cold, rain, heat, humidity for years, resulting in what you all saw in the photos. My immediate reaction was similar to Greg Parkers. Not a Pog, but a homebuilt, one off frame falsely represented as a Pog.
That steerer signature engraving, though, kept me wondering, until I saw the signature on the top tube of Gabus' Pog. Boy, they sure look similar. I started getting worked up again over the possibilites.
To Pergolizzi - did you see the signature on the steerer? Do you think it might be Pogliaghi's signature? If so, what about that "S" cast into the fork crown caps? And what did you mean by this: "Maybe an attempt of a smaller company stepping onto the bandwagon on the cheep."
To Greg - What do YOU make of the steerer engraving? _Could_ the fork be a Serotta? Did Serotta ever do a forking slope crown like this? oops, I mean sloping fork crown..
After reading Greg's comments about the tig welded b.b., I dissected the bike a bit more, as I never really took a close look at the frame joints. I sanded through the paint at the tube joints, and I found......no brass. OR silver. This frame is indeed TIG welded! I should have noticed the slight undercut to the welds, which tells me whoever welded it wasn't that good of a welder. The rear dropouts are unmarked, while the fork d.o.'s are marked Campagnolo, giving credence to the possiblility that the fork is a replacement. PLUS, the frame has a white primer, while the fork does not.
Front hub locknuts are dated '72, rear hub nuts are dated '82, rear derailleur is '78, cranks are '76. Seat post is a 25.0 fluted S.R. . The bike has a real mish mash of parts, although all are S.R.
Why would someone go to all the trouble to engrave their signature and copy the info, that is on the b.b. shell, to the steerer? If I look closely at the engraving, I see the letters POLE (and maybe SON??) Anyone know of a builder with those first four or so initials who was building in the late 70's into the 80's? Maybe it's an Italian builder, since the bike came from Italy.
Lou Deeter - how 'bout you? Know of any Italian builders whose name has the first four initials of POLE?
Whew! Sorry if I have bored you all, and thanks for the space. Inquiring minds need to know, so if there is more info anyone would care to share please do, on or off list. Or maybe I should just powder coat it and forget about it, eh??
Jay Sexton
Sebastopol, CA