Eurobike 2017: Silca Pumps Go Smart

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.

This is the Tattico Bluetooth connected pump.

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.

Inside it is a precision bluetooth pressure gauge.

Pump it up, and the air pressure is displayed on your phone in large digits.

The finish is slick.

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.

This rubber seal fits snugly and stops the pump from rattling.

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.

Pista Floor Pump.

The pump body is a 4130 frame tube.

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.

1962: Celluloid. 2017: Ash.

It has a pair of neat notches to guide the hose.

The gauge on the modern pump is also a much higher quality one than the original 1950’s pump had.

It has a nice big air chuck, and inside the pump body are modern IGUS bushings to keep the plunger running smoothly.

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.

Optionally, it also has a case.

The smaller compartment in the lid is specifically sized for a Sugino track ring bag, and the left one will carry a set of T-handle tools too.

The bag fits the original pump, and is available separately.

The orange edition of the pump is for the centenary only though – next year it’ll go to red.

David Hayward

David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly. Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.