...except when you don't.

The premier brands love to push that BS down our throats to justify their stupid pricing. And I'm not claiming cheap is always best - I'm sure we have all fallen foul of the 'bargain' that turned out to be a lemon. But I may have found a brand that is top trumps for taking the piss. And no, it's not Crikey, how much.

Lady & Gentlemen bikepackers, I give you Silca.
A brand that has a long history in cycling, so authentic that it was bought out in 2013 to market some of the most over-priced crap I have ever had the misfortune of owning. What was I thinking - even with a hefty discount, it was stupidly expensive, so it had to be really good, right?

The two products in question where the Tattico Bluetooth mini-pump, and the Seat Roll Premio.

Now, give them some credit, these items look and feel really nice - any hipster would be delighted to have this adorning their Insta feed. But that's where the good ends. Functionally they are garbage.

The pump.
Great concept - who doesn't want to know exactly what tyre pressure they are running these days? Sadly the basic connection between chuck and tyre valve does not play at all well. It's not a screw on, like my trusty Lezyne, but a friction fit with a clamping lever. Once finished inflating, which is incredibly slow (something others have explained by deliberate air leakage from the pressure sensor release port), it is impossible to release the chuck with losing a lot of pressure - usually in the region of 10+ psi (tested on a digital gauge) for a 40c tyre, but obviously not consistent. Complete fail. I reached out to the company and they recommend not pushing the chuck so far down the valve. I persevered with this for a long time - I really wanted this to work - but it either didn't grip and 'blew-off' during inflation, or ditched air in the struggle to realise it from the valve. Useless.

The tool roll.
I need a proper slap in the nuts for ever thinking this was a good idea, but it was the zeitgeist - how could all the influencer whores and cycling journalists (who don't pedal every new industry trend) be wrong?
I don't take the gravel bike on technical terrain; I have a number of MTBs that are far more capable on just about any trail. But first mildly bumpy descent on a gravel road (proper job, as constructed by the MoD on Salisbury Plain) and it falls off. I check it has been fitted correctly and tighten as snug as I can get it. Within an hour, same thing, except this time its also burst open and I've lost a multitool and the CO2 kit. FFS...
Is it too much to expect a saddle bag to contain one tube, two CO2s + chuck, two levers and one multitool? I can get that in a 500ml plastic bottle. And it's exactly half the weight; 46g Vs 91g for the waxed canvas hipster artefact.

i expect it's just down to me being cursed, but my old Lezyne pump gave me years of reliable service for a reasonable price, and I've had any number of cheap small saddle bags that have worked flawlessly before they became too unfashionable to attach to a 'Gravel Bike'.

Now to see if their lifetime warranty is worth the parchment it is scribed on; why do I expect further disappointment...?

So next time you read Cycling Tits and the other fashionable outlets gushing about a $450 dollar pump (I'm not making this up: https://cyclingtips.com/2014/10/the-new ... loor-pump/), Don't Drink The Kool Aid!

'bluetooth'
and
'pump'

in the same product name?

Almost sounds Swedish, James. : )

Greetz

S.

A pump that connects to your phone ... let's be honest, that has 'shattering disappointment' written all over it right from the start didn't it? We know that 'NEW' doesn't usually mean better it just means different from before and I had you down as cynical enough to know better Craig.

BTW, I've found some more 50g cuben so I'll make you a tool roll like Shaf's.

A bluetooth pump shouldn't be very hard to produce these days, none of the technology is new. The cheap bluetooth shutter button I use with my phone has a reliable range of 20m or more and most new cars have a remote pressure sensor in each wheel, mix it together with a tried and tested track pump and it would be done.

As for the tool roll, the concept of using the boa is good but I would imagine the weak link is the popper, they should have used a buckle.

I happened to look at the Straight Cut Design website as it was mentioned in another thread and look what they sell

https://www.straightcutdesign.com/products/toolroll-v2

Very similar but with a strap and buckle.

A bluetooth pump shouldn't be very hard to produce these days, none of the technology is new. The cheap bluetooth shutter button I use with my phone has a reliable range of 20m or more and most new cars have a remote pressure sensor in each wheel, mix it together with a tried and tested track pump and it would be done.

Perhaps the disappointment lies with yourself for ever thinking the concept was required on a bicycle

I'm struggling with a bluetooth enabled bicycle pump - what is the point?

My kids got me an electric toothbrush (great!!) with bluetooth so I can connect it to my phone, onto which you could download an app so it can talk to the toothbrush. Marketing bollocks springs to mind...

Presumably all it really does is use the phone for it's pressure display?

There is a phone you can carry about with you?

slarge wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 8:59 am I'm struggling with a bluetooth enabled bicycle pump - what is the point?

You could have an app where when you use the pump you scroll through your list of bikes, select which wheel and then when the pressure reaches the level you have set for that wheel the phone beeps to let you know.

The are 5 bikes in my shed so that's 10 wheels, add in there's different pressures for loaded or unloaded and wet or dry and that's 40 tyre pressures to remember. Alternatively, just use the thumb test and assume it's about right

Mariner wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 9:17 am There is a phone you can carry about with you?

Have you never seen Lethal Weapon? Admittedly they were a bit bulkier in 1987.

an electric toothbrush (great!!) with bluetooth so I can connect it to my phone, onto which you could download an app so it can talk to the toothbrush.

If there was another app that listened in to what the toothbrush and phone chatted about then I can see the entertainment value there.
"...Well his breath is getting better at least."
"Good. But can you have a word with bluetooth shaver over there, his ear fluff tickles me every time he answers a call, driving me barmy it is... I mean, some might find it endearing, I'm not into that"

Scattamah wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 5:22 am Almost sounds Swedish, James. : )

Greetz

S.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 7:36 am A pump that connects to your phone ... let's be honest, that has 'shattering disappointment' written all over it right from the start didn't it? We know that 'NEW' doesn't usually mean better it just means different from before and I had you down as cynical enough to know better Craig.

BTW, I've found some more 50g cuben so I'll make you a tool roll like Shaf's.

I love mine btw. Simple and honest and nowt too trendy or complex

sean_iow wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 9:18 am

slarge wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 8:59 am I'm struggling with a bluetooth enabled bicycle pump - what is the point?

You could have an app where when you use the pump you scroll through your list of bikes, select which wheel and then when the pressure reaches the level you have set for that wheel the phone beeps to let you know.

The are 5 bikes in my shed so that's 10 wheels, add in there's different pressures for loaded or unloaded and wet or dry and that's 40 tyre pressures to remember. Alternatively, just use the thumb test and assume it's about right

Let's just hope the gauge on your pump is accurate!! Isn't "around 25psi" the right answer? A bit harder if there's loads of road, and bit softer if it's wet and slippery, but mostly 25psi...... Now if the pump was fully automated and could pump tyres up without me having to be there (or whilst still riding) I would be impressed.

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/maint ... or-review/

Quarq TyreWiz tyre pressure monitor review
Get real-time tyre pressure measurements sent to your smartphone or bike computer with this little gadget

£229. But you do get 2.

I am always stunned when folk know their tyre pressures to exact measurements for each bike
I just do the thumb test .

Do people not spend enough time looking at their phones already?

Should we not be embracing the simplicity of cycling and not making our lives ever more complex and inflicting yet something else to worry about?

and ...

Any bellend that's willing to part with £229 so they know how hard their tyres are would be much better served giving that money to a good cause.

Jon, I believe the word you were looking for wasn't 'stunned' but saddened.

slarge wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 8:59 am My kids got me an electric toothbrush (great!!) with bluetooth so I can connect it to my phone, onto which you could download an app so it can talk to the toothbrush. Marketing bollocks springs to mind...

But the app talks to a central server which sends (sells) the data to your dentist so they know exactly how much you've been brushing your teeth. It's the modern way Steve, we are just a small cog in the machine.

Surely the correct pressure is: "hmmm? Yeah, be reet" A bit like the correct torque setting is either: umph!, gnnn! or "come loose now you bastard!"

Thanks for sharing the Silca review ZDB. Another case of shoddy Italian engineering gone Indeanapolis or whatever the case may be. I suppose shoddy but overpriced workmanship isn't country specific but Italy does have a lot of it. Your opinion may vary

BTW, I've found some more 50g cuben so I'll make you a tool roll like Shaf's.

Now, if I hadn't read the relevant thread, that would have been funny.

I've got the silca tattica pump. non bluetooth version looked at the bluetooth one but can't be arsed with technology and it just annoys me when it dosnt work like it's supposed too.
Any way back to the pump I think it's the best small pump going it's definitely not mini! But solid works great and I love the non screw on head after having a few nightmares with valve cores unscrewing with my mini pump.

I suppose shoddy but overpriced workmanship isn't country specific but Italy does have a lot of it.

I think you should qualify such sweeping generalisations Shafiq. Personally I wouldn't consider engineering companies such as Ducati, Ferrari, Campagnolo, Sarto, Magneti Marelli and Riva Yachts as shoddy. At least Italy has an engineering industry unlike the UK that exported much of it's manufacturing to the Far East years ago.
Btw, Silca products are manufactured in the USA.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 7:36 am A pump that connects to your phone ... let's be honest, that has 'shattering disappointment' written all over it right from the start didn't it? We know that 'NEW' doesn't usually mean better it just means different from before and I had you down as cynical enough to know better Craig.

BTW, I've found some more 50g cuben so I'll make you a tool roll like Shaf's.

Cheers Stu. Hopefully I might get up your way at some point this summer.

I still don't know what I was thinking - thought I'd treat myself last Xmas, but waited for the good weather before trying out - far too pretty (and pricey) to actually get dirty!

pistonbroke wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 10:45 pm

I suppose shoddy but overpriced workmanship isn't country specific but Italy does have a lot of it.

I think you should qualify such sweeping generalisations Shafiq. Personally I wouldn't consider engineering companies such as Ducati, Ferrari, Campagnolo, Sarto, Magneti Marelli and Riva Yachts as shoddy. At least Italy has an engineering industry unlike the UK that exported much of it's manufacturing to the Far East years ago.
Btw, Silca products are manufactured in the USA.

Spot-on. My Duke was way more smiles per mile than the Hondas, and it wasn't that far behind for reliability. As far as I can establish Silca has nothing to to with Italy since the buy-out anyway, just bathing in the heritage.