mprince

I've been a Silca Super Pista user for well over 30 years, my advice is to find a used one and recondition it. You don't need to spend $200 on a new one as you can still get parts from the "new" Silca.

In the time I've had my pump, the only maintenance needed has been a new plunger piston (leather) last year, and replacement head gaskets every several years. Both are very inexpensive parts.

RustyJames 

I’ve heard this story about Blackburn pumps a few times so when I needed a floor pump this past summer I bit the $$ and bought one. Hopefully it will be the last one I’ll ever need to buy.

merziac

Nothing beats a color/paint to match Silca like or from back in the day for back in the day absolute C+V cool factor aesthetics.

I think the new ones are slick as well despite being stupid $$$$$.

All the ones here and that I have still work and will get you home.

I would be willing to bet that Merz did them on at least half of the bikes and frames he built.

The top two are the same frame, green when he first built it for himself and then pink/purple with a braze on clip and minus the canti's when he sold it later.

Ged117 

Each time I venture into a floor pump thread, I inevitably lock-in a few hours reading about classic pumps that I then go looking for to purchase for inflated eBay prices or to save from obscurity at the co-op.

The Meidai pump, for example, is a neato C&V pump: Floor pumps....should we have to fix those, too?

Or the unobtanium Silca-that-needs-fixing from the local co-op. Reader, I've tried.

As for frame pumps, I've been very happy with the Zefal HPX frame pump. With the advent of velcro straps I just switch mine between bicycles.

I use the Filzr Lighting Pro for the floor, which has the dual head. I'm not keen on the performance of the dual head, though. It's funny - I have a small compressor, but I just enjoy using a floor pump for whatever reason.

tiger1964 

Well, while waiting I grabbed the old Hite pump and took the top off, inside diameter somewhere around 29.8mm, and Planet Cyclery shows Silca leather washers in 28mm and 30mm so I took a guess and ordered the latter. If it works well, a nice back-up even without a gauge. If I could get the label off intact, might be fun to eventually repaint (red Kandy over a gold base?).

Of course, an old friend called to say he bought a TopPeak pump and it died after 4 years... maybe I bought the wrong replacement?

stevel610 

+1

stevel610 

+1

tiger1964 

Well, I got it apart... but no-go. What I thought was a thick cast plastic "washer" inserted into the base of the metal tube was just the end of a sleeve that goes all the way up inside the tube -- no obvious cracks/holes. But, cast into the side, is a recess for a plastic ball, apparently an air inlet. That's the only place I can see where it might leak, around that ball. No clear path forward. Shoe Goo would likely just gum up the ball valve more.

So the new Joe Blow arrived and I did a test inflation down in the workshop (it was 20F here this AM so, no, I am not riding). Easy to pump, perhaps a wee bit stiffer than the Park but it is new, seems to take fewer pumps to get the desired results. I went to 120PSI, indicated, and then checked with my Topeak D-2 digital hand gauge; that read 117PSI, close enough! One thing I did not think of, is I often inflate just before a ride, in my living room, which has hardwood floors. But the Topeak has a cast metal base, nice and sturdy, but no rubber feet! Perhaps I can glue a scrap of carpet under there.

Replacement washer to arrive Wednesday, I'll report back if it works in the Hite pump. No results found to Hite pump replacements parts so hopefully the Silca one fits.

tiger1964 

The Silca washer fits the old Hite pump just fine; however, the pump head -- which might not be original to the pump -- is a simple press-on Presta brass one, and the interior washer is very hard and only goes onto a valve with some difficulty. No idea if there's a replacement, perhaps someone might recommend a replacement pump head I could substitute, perhaps a "clamp-down" Presta type with a lever?

EDIT: I pried the seal out of the existing pump head, anyone recognize these dimensions? Might lead me to replacement seal. By my micrometer, 14.4mm diameter, or 9/16", and about 5.5mm thick. It has a small flange at the "outside" edge but I don't see that 100% needed, looking a the design of the head.

EDIT EDIT: OK, for fun, I removed the seal from the Campy pump head on a Silca frame pump; that does not have a flange but it fits just fine on the head of the Hite floor pump. I presume those are available somewhere; I was doing searches and keep getting hits for a part #323 Silca but I do not find dimensions so unsure which pumps that fits. I also found, on eBay, similar-looking Silca brass Presta heads for floor pumps but not identical, mine looks somewhat smaller, so I do not think my pump head is a Silca.

mpetry912 

if you're feeling sporty just find a used Silca on ebay at areasonable price - under 50 bucks let's say - and put a rebuild kit in it.

the silcas do have an O ring in the base that never gets replaced - I do replace that part when I go thru 'em.

/markp

mech986 

Home Depot and others have adhesive felt precut into circles, squares and strips for thing to slide on hardwood and laminate floors, very handy for chairs, table legs, lamps, and other things resting on surfaces you don’t want to mar or scratch, should work fine for the pump base. I’d place three circles for stability.

As for pumps, aside from many iterations of Silca frame pumps for on road use, I have used the compressors on two automotive battery jump starters for pre-ride tire pumping. One has an analog gauge, the other a digital gauge with target pressure shutoff, both reasonably accurate. I use a brass Schraeder-Presta adapter which I leave on after tightening the valve.

Since I ride primarily Compass / Rene Herse 700C x 32 or 35mm Extralight tires with tubes, I only need to pump them up to about 55 psi max, many times used down to 45 psi. The above saves me time and my back, but I don’t get the arm workout. IMO, the convenience is worth the cost. Yeah, I’m one of those guys in my old age.

The batteries used in most jumpstarters with compressors can be replaced with replacement sealed lead acid batteries, although it can be a bit of work to figure out how to dis- and reassemble plus find the appropriate replacement type and model. More difficult is my digital unit quit charging altogether and I’ve yet to troubleshoot it or replace with a new one.

madpogue 

Late to the party TL; DR, but I'll bet the cylinder on that Park pump threads into the base. Maybe some teflon pipe thread tape on those threads will seal it up.

As for the base on the new Joe Blow, that's the sort of thing where I'd reach for an old blown innertube and cut a piece and find a way to attach it to the underside.

merziac

You can swab the hard seal with a smear of vaseline on a Qtip so it slips on without grinding it larger, still may not seal.

Pretty sure the right gauge thickwall rubber tubing could be used by cutting off a small piece.

I also usually use a "pinch" of spit on the valve that really seems to help create the right slip fit seal and also help minimize grinding the seal with force.

And I am currently soaking some old seals in various solvent mix to see if I can "reanimate" or swell the rubber so it works better.

No luck so far, they remain very hard, which is interesting because most rubber hoses at least soften and swell when exposed to oil, gas or solvent.

More drastic measures to follow.

ollo_ollo

My cheap Joe Blow performed flawlessly for years of almost daily use, but eventually entered a period of serial failures and I got tired of fixing it. I tried a Park, which gave good service but had multiple failures far sooner than the JB. The two way head wore out and Park sent a replacement. Then the air pressure gauge grew wonky, failed to show correct pressure. Called Park & they sent a new gauge....3 times spread over a few years. The Park warranty is excellent. I still have the pump down in my shop but when the gauge got inaccurate yet again, I bought a Lezyne. Unfortunately, it had multiple problems from new. Called them and they gave some advice on how to fix it, sent some parts but they didn't make it work. Eventually customer service guy had me return the pump, saying it was probably something simple as they don't get many complaints, he'd fix it right away. Must have been a lemon because I eventually received a newer model pump back in the mail and it has been flawless so far. Keep it in Florida. My current, favorite floor pump is an SKS Kompressor. It lives in our garage in Oregon and hopefully I'm done with new pumps for a while. Don

Aardwolf

For anybody in the UK Wiggle are doing their own brand LifeLife Essential Track Pump in blue for £10.
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-essential-track-pump

I don't have a floor pump so thought I'd try it for £9.99 + £2.99 postage.
I'm guessing if you're not in the UK it's better to use the postage for a better pump available locally.
It actually gets quite good reviews: https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide...ps-2021-200504

Prowler 

A quick revival here to pass along a pleasant surprise. I've had a very nice Topeak Joe Blow Sprint floor pump for about 10 years. In the past few months it has gotten weak, taking 4 or 5 strokes to get up any pressure so I can top up a tire. Not good. Sure seemed like the piston was not pistin. I pulled the rod and cleaned the end and the o-ring and the cylinder walls. No improvement so I measured the main o-ring (expecting some proprietary metric size I'd need to buy by the hundreds from some UK plumbing jobber). "Gee, this looks like a bog simple standard o-ring, 1 1/8" OD, 1/8" wall".

And the Ace HW had it in stock for $0.59. I put that into the pump and we have a full recovery. Sometimes things go as you hope they will.