Re: [CR] Silca floor pumps

(Example: Framebuilders)

Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:56:37 -0400
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
From: "John Betmanis" <johnb@oxford.net>
In-Reply-To: <bfa.3b6c197a.371716ca@aol.com>
Subject: Re: [CR] Silca floor pumps


I bought my Silca floor pump back in the early 1980s I think. It's the old kind with the T-shaped base, not the newer 3-legged base. The first thing I did was replace the tiny pressure gauge with a proper 2" white face 160 psi USG one, which was easier to read and I didn't need the equivalent euro pressure units. Early on the Silca chuck started to leak or pop off, so I replaced it with an aftermarket hose and reversible chuck, which was handy because the wife and kids had Schraeder valve bikes. Then the plastic threaded guide bushing started popping out on the upstroke, so I secured it with a couple of tiny sheet metal screws. Over the years the cup washer got weak, so now I have to spread it at the start of each season to get an effective full stroke. One of these days I'll try to source a new one and replace it. Other than that, it's been a pretty good pump.

I remember reading that the pump bodies were actually made from Columbus tubing and some had Columbus stickers on them. Anybody know the story on that?

John Betmanis Woodstock, Ontario Canada

At 06:54 AM 15/04/2009 -0400, Verktyg@aol.com wrote:
>The old orange Silca floor pumps were much better than the new ones.
>
>I have a Japanese made Maeda (Suntour ???) floor pump that I bought in the
>early 70s. It has a chrome plated cylinder and a red enamel air reservoir
>with a pressure gage.
>
>I bought one of the large Silca chucks when I got the Maeda pump. The Silca
>chuck had a gum rubber grommet that was the best I've ever used. I replaced
>the hose several times and the gum grommet once. The next time the gum
>grommet need replacement I couldn't get one anymore so had I to settle for the
>newer black rubber style. It never worked as well as the original gum rubber
>grommets.
>
>The gum grommets worked at any angle. You just slid the chuck over the
>Presta valve and started pumping. The black grommets require the stem to be
>deeply inserted and the chuck centered over the valve otherwise they leak.
>
>In my supernumerary state, bending over the old Maeda pump was getting a
>little hard on the back so several years ago I bought a tall Silca floor pump.
>Two things that I don't like about it are the stiff rubber hose and the
>hard rubber grommet.
>
>The wheel needs to be rotated so that the valve is near the ground and the
>chuck has to be sitting straight over the deeply inserted valve. The hose is
>so stiff that it will pull the chuck to one side impeding the flow of air.
>
>I disliked the Silca floor pump so much that I went out and bought a Topeak
>Joe Blow Sprint Floor Pump. It has a lot of interesting features plus the
>pressure gage is at the top of the pump cylinder making it easy to read. The
>dual presta/schraeder air chuck is a bit of a PIA at times but otherwise I
>happy with this pump.
>
>Chas. Colerich
>Oakland, CA