SILCA Super Pista Question.
 

A couple of years ago I was given this scathingly brilliant old SILCA pump by a woman who was cleaning out her garage.

The SILCA air pressure gauge goes up to 16 bar (250 P.S.I.).

Can anyone tell me the approximate age of this pump ?

I read on the internet that the older Super Pista pumps ( before the 1950s ) had wooden handles and Columbus tubing.

Is it really possibly that old ??
Any idea of the approximate value ?

Bink.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...08e60eb721.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7d014a75aa.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9f3ae083da.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d6e5fa1714.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cf016b6501.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...72a5009836.jpg

That graphic was available in the late 1980's for sure. Whether is is any older?

My personal Silca floor pump(orange in color) has a foil decal. It is from the late 1970's.

The parts to rebuild and maintain this are all available.

New, this pump sold for almost $100.00

I've seen Silca with date codes on the bottom of the gauge. However, I believe the gauges were procured items and not manufactured by Silca. So, if they used multiple sources, not all gauges may have date codes. Also, depending on how strict they were about rotating stock, the gauge could be older than the pump. However, it is likely quite close.

Mid 80's likely. I had that pump from the later 80's and the design and gauge was all the same except how that handle looked. Take good pictures and email people at silca.cc, they are super knowledgeable of their product. I had to call them for parts for mine and were able to let me know more about it. American owned now instead of Italian (I think).

I lost my pump though on the Leadville 100 back in 2000, lovely pump.

I have what appears to me to be an exact match of that one. I bought it new around 1996, on sale for $50.

It's a mid 80s pump, hard to get any better granularity on date than that.

this model in my opinion is the best ever.

As for value ? Well, these things go for between $20 and $100 on ebay. It's one of those things whose utility value (as a pump) far exceeds its market price.

Put a rebuild kit in it and will last a lifetime ! Parts are available from Silca.

Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA USA

Thanks, guys. I just sent off a note to SILCA (with a couple of pictures) asking for information about the pump and information about getting a seal kit in case it ever needs to be repaired or rebuilt.

Bink

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...14e26efd6c.jpg

I have that same pump, believe I bought it in 1988. Other than replacing the valve head gasket a couple times, has never required a bit of maintenance.

Here's a link to the rebuild kit. You may not need the guage, but definitely replace the chuck gasket and the leather washer (piston) inside the pump barrel. The new Silca hose is FAR better than the old one, well worth the upgrade. I also at least inspect or if necessary replace the check valve, and replace the O-ring at the base of the barrel (this part is not sold by Silca.)

https://silca.cc/collections/replace...kit-242-gasket

Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA USA

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8eb1960cce.png
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...600ac0e8e5.jpg

The foot of this pump dates it as being from the 90's, and the wooden handle makes it a Super Pista. The 1980's pump had a different foot design which had the year stamped into the bottom of the foot: I have an '88, and have seen '87 and '89 stamps too.

Earlier Columbus tubed pumps had a Columbus decal on them. I don't know whether later pumps without the decal still had Columbus tubing or not, but suspect they didn't.

There is nothing special about Columbus tubing. Columbus steels were used for everything under the sun in Italy. It it didn't have a Columbus steel tube that would be notable!