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Y’all Silca is going to be mad at me for this one. The Silca Terra Floor Pump is the best pump I’ve used from them, and I own a SuperPista Ultimate. Yup, I said it. So how does the Terra—their lowest-priced floor pump (retail of $145.00)—take down the most expensive pump on the market? They kept it simple, and then they innovated. Let’s check it out below!
Our friend Andrew Juiliano breaks down Lezyne’s new mid-volume floor pumps. These pumps are in-between a high-pressure road pump and a high-volume, low-pressure mountain bike pump, which makes sense. For $99.99, you get a digital interface Pro-line floor pump, for $79.99 the standard model, and the standard “analog” pump runs $64.99. See more at Lezyne.
Our friends at Firefly have teamed up with Silca to make a titanium bodied, Silca Pocket Imperio Pump. By switching the construction of the pump from aluminum to titanium, it offered a new palette for Firefly to offer a few of their finishes on. These pumps are made-to-order at Firefly’s shop, come in a high-voltage anodized fade (pictured), a brushed, or blasted finish.
Specs:
-Fully butted titanium construction
-Premium leather piston gasket and brass check-valve
-Slide-Lock gaskets
-Length: 8 in
-Weight: 135gm
-120psi maximum pressure
-Finished in Blasted, Brushed or Ultra-high voltage anodized fade
-For presta valves only
-Pumps are all made-to-order. Lead times are 2-3 weeks.
-Retail $220 for brushed/blasted $300 for anodized fade
Head to Firefly to see more.
For those obsessed with dialing in the correct pressure on the trail, fret no longer. Lezyne’s compact and capable hand pumps just got a digital facelift, now allowing you to get the right amount of pressure into your off-road tires. Head to your local dealer to see these in-person and roll on over to Lezyne’s new blog post to read more.
Silca rolled out their most innovative product yet today, the Tattico Bluetooth Mini-Pump. The pump relies on a bluetooth app called iGauge to read your bike’s air pressure. This allows the Tattico to be a true mini-pump and offers accurate air pressure readings. It’s a very innovative product and one that I’d like to see in person for sure. Check out more at Silca.
To commemorate their 100th anniversary, Silca has brought back their most notable classic, the Pista Pump. Complete with or without the lux carrying case, this pump is meant to bring you the precision that gave it notoriety at velodromes around the world, at a pricepoint of $125 for the pump or with the Travel Bag for $199. See more at Silca.
As part of Blackburn’s new pump design lineup, the Chamber is designed for lower pressure, high volume mountain bike and cyclocross tires. It has a 4″ pressure gauge, a new head design that bleeds air to allow for precise levels and comes in a variety of colors, including camo. See more information on the Chamber at Blackburn as well as the rest of their newly-designed pumps.
Not only is the latest floor pump from Silca coated in a stealthy black paint, it’s not going to break the bank. The new and improved Silca SuperPista is in stock now for $235. Read more at Silca.
Sure, there’s an N+1 rule for bikes, but in my opinion, there’s only room for “N” when it comes to pumps. If the pricepoint of the Silca Pista doesn’t scare you away, then maybe you can take a bite off their artist series pumps. The second stock of these Artist Edition pumps lands at noon EDT. Head to Silca to scope the selection…
We saw this in the Interbike 2015 coverage already and it seems they’ve landed…
Silca took their Frame Pump and shrunk it to a jersey pocket, or pack-friendly size. Complete with the same leather washer as the Frame Pump, a unique silicone locking grip and better heat transfer for more efficient pumping, the Pocket Impero packs a punch. Made in the USA and in stock now at Silca.
Now when’s that Yanco for Silca saddle bag going to be in stock?
The first round of these went quick…
Silca’s Super Pista pumps already have a certain panache and when you turn one over as a canvas to an artist like Dario Pegoretti, they suddenly are elevated to art. For the latest run of Artist Series Super Pista floor pumps, Silca and Dario worked on 10 more pumps, ranging from $900 USD to $1,200 USD.
Expect these to go quickly once they hit the stock at Noon EDT on August 5th, so sign up to be alerted at Silca if you’d like to purchase one.
Whether you already have an SuperPista Ultimate floor pump, or you’re buying for the first time, Silca’s got two gauge offerings depending on the style of riding you do. I can’t remember the last time I pumped past 60psi for any of my bikes and wanted the ability to hit lower pressures more accurately on my Silca pump. Now they sell a low-pressure 60psi Ultimate Gauge for $65 or the complete SuperPista Ultimate Plus floor pump which comes with both gauges.
Just in time for ‘cross season preparations.
As if a $450 floor pump wasn’t balleur enough, Silca has begun to stock their artist-edition Super Pista Ultimate Pumps first previewed here in the 2015 NAHBS coverage. The first artist being the legendary Dario Pegoretti. Known for his beautifully-constructed frames, made in Italy and painted like none other, Dario’s a true auteur in the modern framebuilding world.
Each pump painted by Dario is created completely by hand and no two will be exactly alike. A total of 10 pumps are available. See the entire collection at Silca.
The idea of buying an air compressor has come across my mind a few times. With three of my personal bikes being tubeless and a few other review bikes in queue also running tubeless, there’s a lot of tire and wheel swapping happening in the office. Bikes come in with a cyclocross tire and I immediately put on WTB Nanos. MTB tires fall victim to Austin’s craggy limestone and need replacing. Just about every few days, I was finding myself heading to Mellow Johnny’s to get tires put on. While I love giving them the business, I’d rather do that shit myself…
Back to the air compressor conundrum. I love those things, but they’re load and you can’t toss them in the back of a pickup truck or race vehicle with ease. When Bontrager came out with the FLASH Charger floor pump I remember thinking “oh, neat” before scrambling back out on the road for a few weeks. It wasn’t until recently that I bit the bullet and bought one.
At $120, it’s a bit more money than a low-end air compressor, but it uses no electricity, is much more quiet and honestly, seats up tires just as easy…
Portland Design Works recognizes niches within niche markets. Like for example, a portable fatbike pump. High volume tires are a pain in the ass to inflate on a trail and The Fat Stevens™ is capable of tackling even the most rotund tires… Check out more at the Portland Design Works Kickstarter, which includes a special edition carrying case by Blaqpaks and see some photos below.
I tend to get giddy about projects, especially those which were born in the USA, or at least in this case resurrected. Silca’s a company with its roots deeply embedded in cycling history. For over 100 years, this company has been a part of inflation technology (yes, I just said that). After the name was purchased and relocated to the USA, things have been changing rapidly. For the better.
That $400 floor pump caused a bit of a ruckus, as did the $40 air chucks yet for some reason the thought of a $165 frame pump doesn’t seem like a huge leap. Especially when you consider the detailing and that a made overseas Topeak or the like is still $50. The Impero Ultimate has been reborn. It’s a beast of metal, with no plastic parts and it’s machined in the USA. Best of all, it comes in BLACK!
Without me slobbering too much here with copy, why don’t you just check out the specs and more photos below, or order one at Silca. I just did.
If there is any pump worthy of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, it’s the Silca Superpista Ultimate Floor Pump. These puppies are hardly your standard-issue shop pump. For starters, they’re machined in Indianapolis, Indiana, using the highest quality materials including race car engine hosing. Silca then dumped the standard issue +/-5% industrial gauge for a +/-1% laboratory grade gauge that reads from 0-160 psi. There’s also a stainless chuck and a magnetic bed, keeping it in place when not in use. All this with a rosewood handle and weighing in at 7lbs.
Anyway, back to NAHBS and Silca’s presence there. New for 2015, Silca is offering their pumps at a paint-grade finish, along with various gauge and hose colors, allowing for customization. What you’re seeing here are a few examples they had on deck with them at NAHBS. From a Pegoretti-painted (center) to a classic Martini racing Silca (right) and even half of a his/hers pairing (right), you can see the options are endless.
I felt like giving these unique pumps a treatment on par with the unique bicycles I shot at NAHBS. Contact Silca for more information and I can’t wait to see what people come up with.
So… what makes a bike pump worth $450? NPR dives into the story on how Silca moved their production to Indianapolis. Listen to the story at NPR and yes, I totally bought one. Ok, I lied, I put it on my credit card.
Is it really worth it? I mean, it’s a pump, but it’s a damn nice pump and it looks great holding down the tiles in my office. Functionality considered, it’s got an impressive amount of machining, akin to a luxury sportswatch and if it means Silca might one day make a $100 USA-made floor pump, I’m all for supporting this industry.
Side note: I’m really enjoying my new photo studio…
