Silca had two pumps to show us at Eurobike; one was smart in the connected sense, and the other was smart in the snazzy, retro sense. We’ve already reported on their bluetooth connected pump, but had a chance to see it in person last week.
The idea of the bluetooth Tattico is that, instead of making it bulkier with a pressure gauge, it has a high precision bluetooth one inside the pump, that connects wirelessly to your phone. While it wasn’t field testing, they did demonstrate it several times at the Silca booth and it seemed both quick and reliable, measuring in PSI and bar as they actuated the pump with a thumb on the end of it.
Finish quality on the pump is high, with the look and feel of gun parts. They said that’s probably the American influence; while Silca were founded in Italy, they moved to Indianapolis in 2014. There is also a non-bluetooth version of the Tattico for those who just prefer a vanilla mini pump with no gauge, though the bluetooth one is completely waterproof.
Josh Poertner from Silca gave us a quick demonstration; here’s a video:
[fbvideo link=”https://www.facebook.com/singletrackmag/videos/10155316450083612/” width=”650″ height=”400″ onlyvideo=”1″]
(Can’t see it? Try this link).
Silca were founded in 1917, just had their hundredth anniversary, and have a lot of history to draw on. To celebrate, they’re reissuing a modern reproduction of one of their classic pumps. Below is their centennial Pista Floor Pump, built according to the original design, but with modern materials. It’s based around a 4130 steel frame tube, and the first edition was available to the public in 1962. Apparently, when the Tour De France changed the rules during the mid-1950’s to allow support teams for riders, Fausto Coppi’s team asked Silca to design a pump that could fit under the seat of a car, and this design was the result.
The handles on the original 60’s pumps were made from compressed celluloid, which also created a grain pattern, but the one on the new edition is made of ash. It’s also slightly wider than the original handle, and includes slots to guide the hose in storage.
The leather cap washer inside it is one they’ve brought from from the same supplier since 1947. It’s made of 3.5mm full grain hide, apparently the same as Brooks Saddles, and is made out of offcuts from a luxury luggage company. Speaking of luggage, there’s also an optional case for the Pista. They said that in Europe everyone says it looks like a keyboard case, but because they’re ‘merican, they call it a gun case.
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I emailed Silica to check the pump’s accurately at low pressures (where most gauges are pretty rubbish).
They said: The Bluetooth Tattico is accurate to 2% at all pressure levels! Impressive