Benvenuto SILCA - Our newest Official Supplier

SILCA - Official Supplier to CycleItalia

Larry remembers reading somewhere how venerable Silca company had been purchased by an American. He remembered the Italian owner at Interbike over the years and wondering why he thought he needed to be there - everyone knew his floor pumps were simply the best - so why bother?

Larry tracked down the new owner, Josh Poertner via the internet and sent a simple message - something about how great it was to be saving such a venerable name in cycling and how we'd gone out and bought Silca floor pumps after various floor pumps supplied by others (sometimes at no charge) croaked under routine use. All the fancy "smart-heads" are of no use when the basic pump itself breaks down. Silca's were simple, intuitive and bullet-proof. Larry finished with letting Josh know that we were interested in helping him, all he had to do was let us know how.

Eventually the Silca Ultimate pump was introduced and the buzz began. Here was a product with a cost-no-object idea.  Almost $500 for a pump? Yes, but as long as you don't lose it or let it be stolen, you'll have it for the rest of your cycling life - and maybe your children's too!  We have an original Silca that's more than 3 decades old. Josh decided to make the best damn pump he could and charge accordingly, something all too rare these days! Another message of encouragement followed and then an offer of a "bro-deal" on this soon-to-be-iconic pump. Larry couldn't refuse! More about that HERE.

Once Larry had the Ultimate, his idea grew regarding a pump to demonstrate to our clients. Larry contacted Josh with a suggestion: While the Ultimate was sort of the Campagnolo Super Record of floor pumps, could he make a Chorus version? Same great guts but less expensive materials and a lower price? No surprise, Josh was way ahead with the same idea - the Super Pista already in the works! Above you see it posed (the black one) next to big brother.

Notice the gauge is even larger! Josh isn't worried about making his original product look bad next to it's lower-priced brother. He heard the calls for a larger gauge and here it is.

The handles are the same size, but the Pista features a simple wooden version vs big brother's fancier one with the cast metal end caps. Both pumps work exceptionally well, making it almost a joy to pump up your tires instead of using a noisy air compressor.

We thought our new, full-carbon bikes deserved a super-high quality mini-pump to match and Josh and his wizards had that too - TATTICO. Simple clip bolts-on next to your water bottle like most, but the retaining strap is way better, not to mention the pump itself! 

High-quality stuff here, not like so many mini-pumps that either a) can't get enough air pressure in your tire to actually ride on b) get so hot they melt c) tire you out with the zillion strokes they require! Note the small hose - you don't think about this until you use it, then you realize how smart this is. Not new, but what in cycling is?

Close up photo of the pump head. Flexible hose and a lever to clamp it on your valve stem. What's not to like? 

Thanks to SILCA our newest Official Supplier, we'll have a Super Pista at our HQ for you to try out and our new Favaloro bikes will be fitted with their Tattico mini-pumps.

Grazie mille SILCA!!!