Reynolds 

Not for me. I still use a Giyo (aluminum barrel) that I bought 15 yrs ago for about $40 of today and it still works OK. After 14 yrs of use I had to replace a $0.50 O-Ring, though.

chaadster

Exactly, and by Josh Poertner of ex-Zipp engineering fame, so expect *more* good things from Silca.

Velo Dog

It's an intelligence test. A lot of you failed.

MileHighMark

The company's EOLO III CO2 inflator is very impressive. The design/implementation addresses every problem I've encountered with competitors' products.

tk1971

I have 2 Silca floor pumps. Bought them both used (one is about 30 years old). Best pumps I've ever used. I bought the simple 90 degree brass chucks (as opposed to the bulky quick disconnect stuff). I've dedicated one pump for Presta and the other for Schraeder valves.

I can see this particular fancy pump still working 50 years from now and fetching even higher used prices than when it was new.

chaadster

Did y'all see this new pump won the '14 Interbike Best in Show award?

Apparently (and thankfully) there is general appreciation of value consisting of more than just lowest price.

JohnJ80

Good one. Accurate.

chaadster

Poertner is a guest on NPR's All Things Considered today, talking about Silca and the Ultimate.

https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/

ConGrUenCy

Am I the only one who prefers Lezyne's screw on chucks for threaded valves, instead of the QR ones? No more fudgung around, wondering if I've got a good seal, the screw in one does it right every single tie.

rdtindsm

Don’t want to say yea or nay, but their web site blogs makes some points. In particular, that they were trashing carbon rims on cobbles and found the problem to be a pump that was reading 10# too low. The side lever chuck was a kill for item for team mechanics. The new owner was technical director at zipp for some time. The new pump seems to be a personal obsession to make the best pump available. The product page has some interesting comments when you look at the product descriptions.

I’ve never been impressed by anything other than a Silca or :Leyzine pump. I’m not quite as happy with the Leyzine as when I first got it. I have to put about 20 psi in the tire before the gage even registers. There’s Silca and there’s everyone else.

unionmade

I heard it, it was interesting. got to admit the $450 pump gets an A+ in the marketing department. I don't think its a stretch to say he was the first bike pump maker featured in a long interview on a national news program. (not to mention getting the 41's panties in a bunch - admittedly a daily occurrence).

chaadster

I agree. I think it makes a lot of sense strategically. He's set the bar, the benchmark, with the SPUltimate, and it's his own product.

The market is not benchmarking off Lezyne, or Topeak, or even the old, Italian Silca, everyone now looks to the SPUltimate as the ultimate pump quality/performance standard. Owning that, he can peel off features to bring the price point down for the buyers, but the quality level is already set. It's very different from the alternative, which would have been to introduce a lower quality/performance pump that offered some incremental improvements over what the market currently offers, and having to "sell up" consumers on why it's better than Lezyne, or Topeak, or whatever. Or perhaps even worse, sell on why it's better than the old Silca, and face the possibility of coming up short against a product that doesn't even exist anymore!

It was a very savvy marketing strategy indeed!

I'm looking forward to the new Super Pista or whatever lower line pump comes out next, which almost certainly will.

531Aussie

The new old-school: the story behind Silca?s $450 floor pump | CyclingTips

Jed19

Nice article, but me buying a $450 floor pump still ain't happening. I don't see that pump doing anything better than my Lezyne CNC Floor Drive Pump or my twenty-five year old Genuine Innovation steel piston and cylinder pump I bought for $18 from an REI close-out and recently fitted with a Hirame chuck.

Stucky

Obvioudly, this is the item you need when your Faberge Eggs need inflating. Also useful if your Chateau Le Fete Rothschild goes flat. If only they' make a frame-mountable one, in case one ever encounters these conditions while riding!