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Silca Dials in Low Pressure with new Superpista Ultimate LP Low Pressure Floor Pump

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For almost 96 years now, the name Silca has been synonymous with the best pumps money could buy. Now owned and run by Josh Poertner out of Indiana, Silca has been quickly rolling out a new product line that honors the heritage of the storied brand. Just as many of the pumps from the 60’s and 70’s are still in use today, Silca’s new products are designed to stand the test of time.

Largely due to the increase of higher volume tires, a lot has been made recently about high volume or low pressure pumps. The very mechanics of a floor pumps internals usually dictates that it will be easier on the higher side or the lower side of pressures but generally not both. While the original Silca Superpista Ultimate is a pump for high pressures built with NASA like precision, it was time to introduce something new – something designed for much lower pressures….

Silca Super Pisa LP Low Pressure Floor pump

Sitting next to the Superpista Ultimate is the all new Superpista Ultimate LP. That LP of course stands for low pressure, with the built in gauge reading from 0-60 psi. More than just a lower read out on the gauge with better resolution, the laboratory grade gauge is supposedly a lot more accurate as well with a 1% accuracy that Silca claims is capable of 1/2 psi repeatability. If those claims turn out to be true (we have no reason to suspect otherwise) you are looking at the pump for fat bikes and other bikes that could benefit for accurate pressures South of 60 psi.

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It’s no secret that the new Silca pumps are unapologetically expensive. Carrying the same retail as the high pressure variant, the Superpista LP comes in at $450 which sounds outrageous until you consider how long previous Silca pumps have continued working. Thirty years from now when your Superpista LP is still filling tires, it works out to about $15 a year. Obviously, a pump that costs more than some bikes isn’t for everyone, but for those who want the best…

Just what does $450 get you when it comes to a pump? For starters you’re getting one of the most stable floor pumps around with a substantial base that contributes to the 7 pound (3.2 kg) weight. That base contributes to the stability of the pump and is also designed to work with any type of shoe – including cycling shoes with cleats installed.

To keep the iconic presta chuck made from 17-4 stainless steel in check, the pump includes a magnetic dock. Strong enough to carry the pump by the handle, the chuck can be removed with a tug. No more bending over to replace the hose at the base. As usual, the chuck is completely rebuildable for decades of use.

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That chuck is found at the end of Silca’s exclusive 12,000 psi hose which is built with a smooth PTFE liner with a braided steel covering that is over-extruded with red urethane. Rotational fittings at each end allow both the hose and the chuck to rotate a full 360 degrees even when fully pressurized. When not in use, the hose keeps the hand turned rosewood handle in place. Sounding more like a custom bike frame than a floor pump, the wooden handle is mated to investment cast stainless steel lugs for both durability and beauty.

All that precision and engineering doesn’t stop on the outside, as the inner workings are just as advanced. utilizing a piston rod impregnated with PTFE and hard anodized, the pump action will remain tight thanks to an inner IGUS bushing in the top cap similar to high end pedals. To go along with the aluminum barrel with a 2.5mm wall thickness, the Superpista LP uses the Silca 741 leather washer meant for the post-2008 30mm inner diameter barrels. Cut from excess material from high end goods straight from Milan, the steam pressure-formed leather cup washer used to push air in each Silca pump still comes from the same leather converting house since the 1960’s. Formed from full grain leather, the new washers feature an updated 2.5mm thickness for even better durability. Should you ever wear out the washer, new ones can be had for just $11.

Hand assembled in Indiana out of parts from the USA, Italy, and Taiwan, the Silca Superpista LP looks like the new heavyweight champion for low pressures.

silca.cc

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23 Comments
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Greg
Greg
9 years ago

Damn that’s a lot of money but damn that’s a lot of awesome.

SmooveP
SmooveP
9 years ago

Nice looking pump, but still not enough resolution on that gauge for fat bike tires. For that kind of money, give me an air compressor, a really nice chuck and an accurate gauge that tops out at 30psi.

tinsloth
tinsloth
9 years ago

I think you mean unapologetically expensive.

knanci djreaux
knanci djreaux
9 years ago

The $20 Slime Presta Digital gauge measures down to 0psi with 0.5psi resolution… and I can buy whatever cheap pump I want (or use anyone else’s at the trailhead). No to mention I can carry it in my pack and still use a hand-pump to get an accurate pressure on my fat bike.

pete
pete
9 years ago

no flash fill?

Doug
Doug
9 years ago

Yes, I think most fat bikers are modifying psi on the ride not in the garage. Nice pump though but not very useful.

Brett
Brett
9 years ago

This pump looks great. Their regular Superpista? The biggest piece of junk I’ve ever purchased. The plastic piece at the top is barely held on by a poorly-fitting screw. If you press the hose into the hose holder a few times, it will start to tear through the hose. I finally gave up on it when air started leaking past the plunger and it wouldn’t even inflate a tire (and that was after I greased the plunger). Avoid.

My Blackburn Airtower 4 is a much better piece of kit. They’ll send me replacement parts for the chuck when it starts to wear. When I had a problem with the pump itself, they sent me a whole new one. These guys know how to stand behind their product.

Ace
Ace
9 years ago

Very pretty pump ,but why? My pump sits in the basement fills my bicycle and wheelbarrow tires,has a gauge and goes up to 200+psi and I know can get over 150 psi and I can dial it in to the pound. Again I really don’t understand the market for this at that price.

Alex @ Hermes Sport
9 years ago

Brett, that’s from the old Italian-made silca pumps, I believe – the US-made ones are all metal.

guu
guu
9 years ago

Accurate low pressure (under 15 psi) gauges are _really_ inexpensive. Basically they just have a tube, a spring and a stick with a scale on it. Google ATV tire pressure gauge. Even dial type gauges with 1/4 psi resolution can be had for under 20 dollars.

Joe Maki
Joe Maki
9 years ago

Ace: “Very pretty pump ,but why?”

Same reason they make $8000 single speed mountain bikes.

Mike
Mike
9 years ago

For everyone talking about cheap accurate gauges, there is a difference between resolution and accuracy. Just because your gauge reads out 1/4 psi increments does not mean it is that accurate. A quality pressure gauge is on the order of 200 bucks. Cheap guages are usually accuate to + or – 2% of full scale (+ or – 2 psi on a 100 psi gauge). Which is really fine for bike tires but it is quite a bit more expensive to get a gauge in the 1% range.

Gixxer
Gixxer
9 years ago

I was excited until I saw the price tag. Buzz kill

Sam
Sam
9 years ago

D*mn, not only do I have to spend $450 on a pump, but I have to buy one for my road bike and one for my various off road bike?

David
David
9 years ago

Sigh. Silca is no longer the Silca I’ve known.

Endurobob
Endurobob
9 years ago

The person who buys this wears rapha clothing and rides a Ritte or a Parlee road bike.

Don’t get me wrong, we have one in the store near me. If I had the sort of disposable income needed to get one, I’d do it. It’s absolutely gorgeous and feels like its built to last forever, but my $40 specialized pump is still going strong after 5 years, and I don’t cringe when I toss it into the trunk of my car.

gringo
gringo
9 years ago

_Hey Josh Poertner.
The build looks great. if you put out a flash charger type pump with those materials I’d pay 300.

guu
guu
9 years ago

Mike said: “. Cheap guages are usually accuate to + or – 2% of full scale (+ or – 2 psi on a 100 psi gauge).”

That’s why I said “low pressure (under 15 psi) gauges” There’s a big difference compared to 100 psi gauges that you are talking about. 2%, or even more of fat tire or mtb pressure is still less than anybody cares about. Usually one would care if pressure was 1.6 instead of 1.7, of a about 6% difference.

There’s also the point that the accuracy (0.34 or 0.35) isn’t as important as repeatability. Besides, you can only get really accurate measurements if you standardize the conditions of compensate for them. I highly doubt anybody is measuring the temperature of the tire and surrounding air and reading compensation tables for humidity before each ride. If you have lots of money burning a hole in your pocket that’s fine but you can set MTB and fat bike tires accurately even if you are not a Rockefeller.

Mrfish
Mrfish
9 years ago

It’s a nice pump, but the economic argument over a cheap pump is garbage.

Since starting cycling I’ve had two £45 Specialized pumps which each lasted roughly 10 years. So let’s generously assume the Silca pump lasts for ever and costs £450 in the UK.

However, Discounted Cash Flow maths shows that if I invested a bit over £117 at 5% today, I could buy a Specialized pump every ten years for ever. I would need to break the Specialized pump every 2 years for it to be worth buying the Silca. And there’s a guarantee for that.

Dave B
Dave B
9 years ago

Well, lets see, he justifies by saying that $450 amortized over 30 years is only $15/year. My $60 Park PFP-4 is now about 10 years old so it’s down to $6/year and still dropping since it shows no signs of needing to be replaced.

This thing is more of a fashion statement than a practical tool.

Mark @ GRAVELBIKE
9 years ago

According to G.H. Meiser (the Accu-Gage makers), their mechanical gauges are most accurate (± 2%) from 30% to 60% of the maximum pressure, and accurate to ± 3% below 30% and above 60% of max pressure. Kind of interesting that the accuracy sweet spot is narrower than what most people would assume.

Michael
Michael
9 years ago

I have a $60 Blackburn Airtower 4 that will outlast this Silca ripoff. How is that you might ask? What a lot of people don’t know is that Blackburn offers a lifetime warranty on their pumps. I’ve already had one of their pump replace with no questions asked.

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