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Silca’s new Compact Viaggia travel pump with BluetoothSilca Compact Viaggia2

Silca’s new Compact Viaggia travel pump with Bluetooth

Beautifully made and …it's got Bluetooth!
by David Arthur @davearthur
Wed, Feb 20, 2019 09:25
7

Do you travel a lot with your bike? If you do, you may well be interested in this lovely new compact travel pump from Silca which instead of a conventional pressure gauge instead uses Bluetooth and a smartphone app.

The 57cm tall pump has a detachable full-sized handle and folding feet and is constructed from extruded 6061 aluminium barrel with a full-metal shock piston, an Italian leather gasket and brass check valve, so you know it’s built to last and be smooth and lovely to use.

The aluminium handle is based on the company’s regular size SuperPista Ultimate pump handle which makes it, according to the company’s claim, the “most stable handle on a travel-specific pump”. The handle is concealed inside the barrel when not in use.

A 99cm hose uses the company’s HIRO side-lever locking chuck compatible with Presta and Schrader valves.

silca

Then there’s Bluetooth, with a sensor in the base of the pump transmitting tyre pressure information to Silca’s iGauge smartphone app. It’s claimed to be accurate to within +/-0.5 PSI. A 2032 coin cell battery powers the sensor and provides a claimed 100 hours of use.

This level of construction and attention to detail doesn’t come cheap, with a list price of $275. More at https://silca.cc/

Silca
Compact Viaggia
bluetooth
Pumps
David Arthur @davearthur

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes. 

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7 comments

Avatar
janusz0 | 5 years ago
0 likes

As I don't have a butler to carry my travelling accessories, I think I'll stick with my Topeak Mini-Morph for the time being.

Avatar
arckuk | 5 years ago
1 like

The phone integration seems like a terrible idea - you've got to get the bluetooth paired, the app working, find somewhere at a convenient height to rest your phone so you can see it properly, start pumping and then hope your screen doesn't lock just as you're tuning the pressure to that last 0.5 PSI. Then, in 5 years when the latest version of the iphone or android is no longer compatible with the now-abandoned app, it's a super accurate pump with no display!

If they're intent upon digital, what's wrong with a simple, small, LCD screen that displays in user-selectable units?

Avatar
mike the bike replied to arckuk | 5 years ago
0 likes

arckuk wrote:

The phone integration seems like a terrible idea - you've got to get the bluetooth paired, the app working, find somewhere at a convenient height to rest your phone so you can see it properly, start pumping and then hope your screen doesn't lock just as you're tuning the pressure to that last 0.5 PSI. Then, in 5 years when the latest version of the iphone or android is no longer compatible with the now-abandoned app, it's a super accurate pump with no display!

If they're intent upon digital, what's wrong with a simple, small, LCD screen that displays in user-selectable units?

 

Whenever I come across yet another example of a bored mind inventing a gadget we definitely don't need, I think of the Christmas present I received as a youngster.  It was a pen with a tiny thermometer embedded in the case.  Until that moment I had no idea how important it was for a letter writer to know the temperature of the room he was sitting in.  But hey, at least it made me realise that some adults are just fools.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to mike the bike | 5 years ago
0 likes

mike the bike wrote:

arckuk wrote:

The phone integration seems like a terrible idea - you've got to get the bluetooth paired, the app working, find somewhere at a convenient height to rest your phone so you can see it properly, start pumping and then hope your screen doesn't lock just as you're tuning the pressure to that last 0.5 PSI. Then, in 5 years when the latest version of the iphone or android is no longer compatible with the now-abandoned app, it's a super accurate pump with no display!

If they're intent upon digital, what's wrong with a simple, small, LCD screen that displays in user-selectable units?

 

Whenever I come across yet another example of a bored mind inventing a gadget we definitely don't need, I think of the Christmas present I received as a youngster.  It was a pen with a tiny thermometer embedded in the case.  Until that moment I had no idea how important it was for a letter writer to know the temperature of the room he was sitting in.  But hey, at least it made me realise that some adults are just fools.

Maybe it's important for a letter writer to know the temperature of their hand? If you're writing a letter to your MP about cycling facilities, you want to make sure that it doesn't get too steamy.

Now, I love gadgets and will happily pay money for electronic gadgets, but I really can't see the need for bluetooth on a pump.

Avatar
srchar | 5 years ago
0 likes

The pump might well be built to last, but I wonder how long before the technology it contains is obsolete?

Avatar
ConcordeCX replied to srchar | 5 years ago
0 likes

srchar wrote:

The pump might well be built to last, but I wonder how long before the technology it contains is obsolete?

 

brass valve and leather gasket? Weren't they already obsolete in the Middle Ages? These people need to get with the program!

 

Avatar
brooksby | 5 years ago
0 likes

Bluetooth in a bike pump??  

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