The Silca Pista is a classic in the cycling world and the pump by which all others are measured. Unlike other plastic and disposable floor pumps, the Pista features all-metal construction (except for the obvious rubber hose and seals, wooden handle, and leather piston) and is fully serviceable with readily available replacement parts from Silca. The Pista's 500mm air chamber provides ample volume for inflating road and cyclocross tires.

The wooden handle is beautiful, comfortable, and pleasant to use.

The Pista's rubber hose is 36" long, so there is plenty of reach.

The Pista's hose ends in a Presta head.

However, you can unthread the head from the hose to inflate Schrader valves whenever you're forced to suffer the indignity of using your Silca on someone else's Schrader valves.

When not in use, the hose clips to the main shaft.

A Silca storage bag is included with the Pista.

The Pista's bell-shaped head is uniquely Silca and is very easy to use.

Simply unthread your valve,

and press the head onto the valve. There is no need for locking levers or other constricting gizmos employed on other pumps. The Pista's head stays on the valve and seals just fine. When you have inflated to the desired pressure, simply pull the Silca's head from the valve.

To inflate, just pump the handle up and down.

The Pista's dial gauge is clearly visible when you're standing over the pump.

The Pista's dial gauge reads in both bar and psi increments. The bar readings are very useful, even if you think in psi. Rather than trying to inflate to exactly 100 psi, just inflate to the 7 bar mark. If you're racing, inflate to the 8 Bar mark. We always crack up at people who inflate their bicycle tires to exactly 100.0 psi or their car tires to exactly 28.8 psi in the front and 38.2 psi in the rear. Air pressure doesn't work like that.

If you have never used a Silca before, it may feel strange to you. Silcas have a unique feel to them. At first you might think that they don't work very well. Then you get accustomed to them. Then, when you try a friend's pump or your old pump, it doesn't seem to work as well as the Silca. Silcas are odd that way. It's one of the things that makes Silcas so unique and Silca owners so loyal. No other pump engenders such love and loyalty from its owners.

Silcas also last. The Pista will serve you the rest of your life. John still uses the ugly orange 30-year-old Pista from his racing days as a junior.

This is John's Pista when he removed it from cold storage. It sat dormant at least 15 years when John stopped riding. The rubber hose was deteriorated at both ends and leaked. John tried shortening the hose at both ends but the hose was really beyond repair.

John replaced the deteriorated Silca hose with some rubber fuel line that was sitting around the shop,

and sealed the ends with some beater hose clamps. In this state, John's old Pista worked perfectly fine. It was ghetto, but it worked great.

When we became Silca dealers, John went Uptown and replaced the fuel line with a legit Silca replacement hose. Now John's old Pista works every bit as well as when it was new. It's still our shop pump, and we have shop air at our disposal as well as brand new Pistas in inventory. We actually prefer using the Pista to inflate tires before a ride because the pre-ride ritual is more pleasant and fun than using our shop air. And we prefer using this old Pista to a new one. Silcas last, and not just in terms of mere function. More importantly, they last in your heart. You never want to use anything else.

These are John's two Silca Impero frame pumps. The one on the left is a back-up. He's never needed it because John's first Impero is still going strong. Like the Pista, the Impero is fully serviceable and rebuildable. And this glorious device really is worthy of an emperor.

So John still uses his Silca Impero with Campagnolo metal head. This Impero is about 30 years old. The seal in the old Campy metal head deteriorated from age and use, so John replaced it with a replacement Silca seal.

Now John's Impero is back to working like new again whenever he punctures. Again, Silcas last.

The Silca Impero was designed to fit parallel to the seat tube.

However, John likes to fit his Impero inside a second T.A. cage,

with his field tools and spares in a miniature tool roll strapped to the second cage.

This way, everything stays with the bike and it's very easy just to inflate the tires and go riding without collecting other gear.