Pantography has become a rubric for engraving of bicycle parts. Originally done by a manual device called a pantograph, most modern engraving is done by machine. The CR Archives deal with this issue at length. Most all period bike part engraving was subcontracted and, therefore, there is variation in the style and quality of even genuine period engraving. Therefore, in some sense, all bike pantography is adventitious-it wasn't done by the builder. Ray Dobbin's website has some excellent photographs of these engraving variations on a 1970's Colnagoif I understand his comments, Ray believes they are of various "generations." To some extent the morphology of the engraving is also dependent on the size and shape of the part engraved. This is also borne out in Ray's images. In short, if it is well done, modern pantography of bike parts can be tough to tell from period engraving. As in distinguishing all vintage bike forgery, reference to period images is essential and showing the part itself to an experienced engraver will be very helpful. However, a skillful modern engraving can be almost impossible to detect. The poor ones can be seen a mile away. Greg Softley also has some very nice images of engraved parts, both modern and period. His reference to Delta brake covers (Off Topic) not being engraved probably refers only to those found on Colnago bikes, and, although this may be true (I'm not sure), of course Delta brake covers were commonly engraved by other makers. For example all De Rosa 35th Anniversarios have engraved Delta brake covers. In short, forgery, in all its forms, is one of the great problems of our hobby and one has to be informed and vigilant to detect it. George
George Hollenberg MD
CT, USA