Pogliaghi

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Pogliaghi was an Italian racing bicycle manufacturer, based in Milan, Italy.

Founded by Sante Pogliaghi in 1947, his company became one of the most sought-after bicycle frame builders. Pogliaghi himself did much of the work, but had up to six staff by the late 1970s, when production increased from 300 frames a year to around 800. [1]

Pogliaghi frames were used in Olympic and professional track racing. Cyclists such as Patrick Sercu and Eddy Merckx used Pogliaghi frames. Sante Pogliaghi's speciality was tandem bicycles. While their track bikes, both solo and track were most famous, they also made road bikes.

Sante Pogliaghi died in 2000, and the rights to manufacture frames under his name passed to Marc Rossin, then to the Basso brothers. Bikes from the 1970s and earlier, made by Sante Pogliaghi himself, are highly prized by collectors.

The previous paragraph is not entirely accurate. Sante Pogliaghi appears to have sold or transferred rights to build bicycles under his name sometime in the early or mid-1980s. The usual method for telling the difference between a Pogliaghi made under his direct supervision, and one that was not, is the *PSM* stamp on the seat-lug, and a sequential serial number stamped on the seat-lug or the head-lug. These stamps disappeared sometime in the mid-1980s, presumably after Rossin took over the marque. Supposedly Marc Rossin had the rights first, and a number of Pogliaghis appeared with characteristic Rossin-style pantographing. By the 1990s, rights to the Pogliaghi name had passed to the Basso brothers, who made some nice bikes under that name. As of this writing, Basso still holds the rights to the Pogliaghi name, but they are not manufacturing any bikes under that marque.

It is quite possible that the last Pogliaghis stamped with PSM and serial numbers were made after Pogliaghi retired, but these older-style frames continued to be made at his shop until it was closed. The usual assumption is that stamped frames are "real" Pogliaghis, and the later frames, while perfectly fine, for the most part, were made under the supervision of someone other than Pogliaghi.