Silca is back...

[CharlesM]

Silca will roll out a couple of new products shortly... One of em being an exceptional little Co2 topper (and cylinders).



Nice machining...



cool little detail... A bit of functional extra grip in the form of O-rings..



... that are interchangeable and come in multiple colors.

And Like most Silca stuff, virtually everything is serviceable / replaceable.

The materials list is over the top... the body, the spring... Ex: The internal cylinder puncturing part on a lot of cheap heads is a cheaper carbon steel pin that sits next to a hole. That spike easily dulls and the hole that sits next to it can get clogged or blocked where you have to back off (unscrew) the cylinder and waste gas (sometimes all of it).

Silca's unit is a 17/4 stainless fitting / syringe that will pierce enough cylinders before dulling that it should out-live you...



They're even having the dang colored O-rings made for them in the US...

The cylinders threads are capped to keep em from rubbing everything.

Just a bunch of nice little details.

More later, but this thing is the first example from the new Silca that I've seen and it's pretty much what I thought would be coming from them...



I had older Silca pumps that outlasted all the bikes that I had when I got them but none of that kit goes with any of the modern stuff...

This part is a "today" type product built at the level of the rest of my bits...

[HammerTime2]

Ha ha, you left out the most important part - how much do they weigh?

[CharlesM]

LOL, 17 grams the head (with orings).

Ah, and the orings dont weight a full gram.

[Mr.Gib]

How does the "trigger" mechanism work?

[Oswald]

My guess is that you screw in the cartridge halfway. And when you need to use it, you screw it in all the way?

[Teletori]

will normal threaded ones fit, or do you need to buy them "Ultra-Premium" ones?

[CharlesM]

How does the "trigger" mechanism work?

The mechanism is slick.

You screw the cylinder on all the way into the end with the colored insulator rings. It is sealed. No worry about it coming lose OR leaking out the valve stem end.

Then you screw the other end onto the valve stem.

Then you push the cylinder toward the valve stem (in the direction of the spring) and the gas goes in. Pull to stop the flow...

You can do short bursts to fill to the desired pressure and stop to check in between... This is no place near the Press and prey systems where you press it till you think it sounds right and the left overs leak out.

Unlike most small heads, this system is sealed at BOTH ends. ALL the gas is going in. There is none of the leakage around the head and cylinder and valve like most other compact heads.

I used a couple cylinders and 16 grams is more than enough for a 23 (so much so that I was worried about a blow off because, on the first go, I didnt realize it was a push / pull action to stop the gas and none of it was leaking out...

I would bet 16 easily fills 25 and 28 section tires too.


I also used a genuine innovations cylinder and it worked but the threads on the genuine innovations cylinders are not as deep. It wasnt an issue, but you can tell they're a tad different when you look at em.

[bombertodd]

Charles, have you used the Lezyne Trigger Speed Drive? If so how does it compare?

Thanks.

[CharlesM]

Function wise they're similar but the Silca seals more complete. The internals are better stuff as well.

The trigger is one of the others I own (along with the genuine innovations air chuck, an older genuine innovations and an sks).

[veloflyte]

I remember Silca from long ago... Back when I started riding and racing... When Greg Lemond was at his best. Silca, Cinelli, 7-eleven, Andy Hampsten, Steve Bauer, etc..etc..

[CharlesM]

I burned a couple more cylinders (including genuine innovations and now a couple generics just to see)...

Turns out there's a bit more air in the Silca cylinders.

A 16 gram cyl will fill a 28 tire to 105. The genuine innovations cyl filled to 90.

There's a difference not just in sealing but in the gas content of cheaper cylinders... Running the Airchuck and a generic cylinder did the 28 to 85psi...

The Silca 16 gram and the silca head blow a 23 section tire to 130+ (I pulled it off with some left...). That's way more than anyone needs. That said, I doubt they tool up to make a 12. most folks have it burned into their brains that a 12 isn't enough because historically it hasn't been. But that's down to 12's having more like 10-11. Generic 16's have 13ish... Silca are claiming 15.5-16. Generic 20's are getting popular but they only have 17-18.

When you combine generics and lesser inflation heads, I can see why 16 and 20 are preferred...

but for all but the mega fat tires, 16 will more than do the job.

[Bogan]

Great! I have a Silca floor pump that is 30 years old and still using. This sounds like the same quality output from Silca.

[commendatore]

Ha ha, you left out the most important part - how much do they weigh?

...and the price

[FlemishCompact]

I think it's close to $40 on the silca website

[commendatore]

Its $46. Looks like quality, and made in the US to boot... but really, forty-six freakin' dollars for an air chuck?