Originally Posted by
smd4
I love my Silca Pista Plus with a Hiro chuck. Yes, this setup is pretty expensive (more so than when I got my setup a year or two ago), but it's the last I'll ever own. Every component is easily replaceable.
Originally Posted by
pdlamb
And I agree with you on the Hiro chuck. I got lucky enough to grab one on Silca's year-end clearance sale a few years back, and no other pump chuck comes close.
Originally Posted by
mpetry912
find a used silca pump on ebay, order the rebuild kit and new hose, and put a Hiramepump head on it.
Plus one on the Hirame love. I have it on a ~1986 Silca Pista pump, Columbus tubing! It, and the Silca Hiro copy, are just wonderful. In fact, I'd argue that there's not much difference between pumps; if the chuck is easy to use, any pump is adequate. When I went to fatter tires with lower pressure, I replaced the original Silca pressure gauge, which went to 220 psi, with a 0-60 psi gauge, so I can pump to 40 psi, which was difficult to see on a gauge that went to 220.
My other pump is a 1974 Rampar-branded Medai. I replaced the original hose and chuck with one of the Shrader/Presta double heads, and mainly use it to air up the car tires.
I wish I'd bought the Hirame chuck when I first learned of it, instead of waiting until I was a bit more flush. For many years I used that Silca brass bell chuck, what a pain in the keester. But it was
authentic Italian...
And yeah, the Pista just wants to
fall over.