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Silca Terra Floor Pump

8
£180.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Truly excellent pump for both high volumes and high pressures, but very expensive
Durable
A joy to use
Genuinely good for both high volume and high pressure tyres
Chuck works really well on both Schrader and Presta valves
Expensive
Weight: 
1,100g

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The Silca Terra Floor Pump is superbly engineered, durable, accurate and a joy to use. It works equally well on high pressure tyres and the high volume, low pressure rubber found on gravel bikes, mountain bikes or even fat bikes – but like everything Silca makes, it's quite expensive.

Silca's Terra Floor Pump is a fresh evolution of an old pump, and while it keeps the high-volume abilities and easy-to-read low pressure gauge, it adds high pressure capabilities. It's genuinely great for your road bike as well as your gravel, mountain or fat bike.

> Buy the Silca Terra Floor Pump from Saddleback now

As you'd expect at this price, the build quality is top notch. The base, barrel, piston and chuck are all aluminium, and not just the usual black either.

Meanwhile the handle is made from hand-turned ash and beautifully finished. The proportions are generous; the handle is wide enough to get both hands on, and the diameter feels just right.

2023 Silca Terra Floor Pump - handle 2.jpg

The base, made from a single piece of aluminium, has two legs for putting your feet on and a pressure gauge as a third leg. The pump feels solid on the ground and the footprint is wide enough to keep the whole thing stable.

2023 Silca Terra Floor Pump - footplate 2.jpg

The hose is about 3ft (90cm-ish) long, and tucks away nicely into the two slots on the plastic barrel end cap. The hose guide on the handle is a nice touch.

Chuck

The aluminium chuck works really well and was reliable throughout the test; I had no issues with leaks or it popping off any of the valves I tried.

2023 Silca Terra Floor Pump - valve head 2.jpg

Silca says the chuck is based on its Tattico mini pump design; it works on both Schrader and Presta valves by virtue of the threaded reversible end cap. Unlike, I suspect, most of you, I do have a few bikes in my fleet that use Schrader valves – they seem to be norm in BMX racing. I thought having to unscrew the head to swap between Presta and Schrader would be a pain, but the engineering on the chuck is so superb that it's a non-issue.

By that I mean the screw thread is clean and super-easy to get started, and you don't have to do the end-cap tight at all – the last half turn gives you very tactile feedback that the o-ring is being squashed, and that the end cap is where it needs to be.

The camlock on the chuck works well, and while it's a little stiff, I suspect this will ease with a bit more use. There's also an air bleed button on the chuck to fine-tune air pressure.

Pressure reading

The pressure gauge on this pump is big at 3in (76mm) and the numbers are large enough to easily read while standing – I can just about read them without my glasses.

2023 Silca Terra Floor Pump - dial.jpg

The scale shows both psi and bar and is non-linear; half is taken up by 0-30psi, while the other half runs from 30-120psi. The advantage is you get 0.5psi increments and easy accuracy for the first 30psi, where it really counts - hang around in the pits of any cyclo-cross or cross-country race if you don't believe me on that. Then you get 1psi increments and good accuracy for the higher pressures too.

Pump action

The pumping action on this Silca pump is really smooth. Due to an unfortunate lack of landing skills to go along with my jumping ambitions, I'm temporarily one-handed, but I still had no problem achieving my desired pressures on a variety of tyre sizes.

In case you're interested, here are some stroke counts for tubeless 700C tyres:

  • 25mm Schwalbe One: 15 strokes to 60psi, and a further eight to 90psi (I stopped at 90psi because I didn't want a sealanty face, not because pumping became too hard).
  • 43mm Panaracer Gravel King Small Knob: 19 strokes (stop laughing at the back) to 30 psi and 11 more to 50 psi. I would run that tyre anywhere between those values.

If your eyes glazed over there, let me summarise: this pump will get your tyres up to accurate pressure without much effort and well before you get bored of pumping.

Value

I'm not going to argue that £180 is anything other than very expensive for a pump.

Topeak's Joe Blow Sport III is good enough to win Best Overall in our best track pumps roundup and now costs £47.99, for instance. Alternatively, Cannondale's Precise Floor Pump is £54.99 and also reviewed extremely well, and don't worry – you don't really need a precise floor to use it. Chortle. Anyway, both are less than a third of the price of this Silca.

And those aren't even the cheap pumps. At the budget end, £17.99 will get you Lifeline's Essential Track Pump, and it will also pump up your tyres.

You can, as ever, spend more instead, especially if you look at the rest of Silca's range. The SuperPista Digital Floor Pump now costs £390, or £550 if you go for the Ultimate Hiro Edition. Pay that and you'll be my hero too.

Overall

This pump is really well designed and a joy to use. It genuinely works equally well for high volume and high pressure tyres, and the chuck is the best reversible Presta/Schrader design I've used. The price can be somewhat justified by the enjoyment I get in its superb engineering every time I use it, and the knowledge that it will probably still work when I'm done and it gets passed on to my son, and then maybe his children too.

Verdict

Truly excellent pump for both high volumes and high pressures, but very expensive

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Silca Terra Floor Pump

Size tested: n/a

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

This what Silca says:

"The Silca Terra Floor Pump is a graduation of the original 1988 Terra pump, the first ever high volume pump with a low pressure gauge to accommodate larger volume MTB tyres. Now, the Terra Floor Pump combines refined low pressure measurements with the ability to maintain high pressure capabilities, in a pump that exhibits the precision and elegance of the brand's legendary offerings.

"Its crowning feature is an exciting new asymmetric, non-linear gauge that shows 0-30psi in large increments on the first half, allowing for 0.5 psi precision, while 30-120 psi is displayed in smaller increments on the second half, delivering 1 psi precision. That way, gravel and MTB riders or those running a tubeless setup can get a more accurate reading, without losing the ability to run at higher pressures if they choose to.

"Road cyclists will find that this pump has all the great features they've come to expect from Silca. Sleek and durable, with a light, minimalist aluminium barrel making it easy to transport, the Terra Floor Pump bears the brand's classy, trademark solid Ash wood handle. It's also distinguished by the attractive, olive green colour of the stable yet light tri-axis base, the gauge and the pump head.

"The functionality is as usual top notch, but this pump strays from the norm by including a chuck based on the award winning Tattico mini pump design. Made from aluminium, it has a threaded, reversible, locking end cap that can fit either Presta or Schrader valves, making it compatible with any bike. Meanwhile, an inline pressure bleed button ensures there's no need to disconnect and start over if you overshoot your goal pressure.

"Solidly made, beautiful to look at and consciously slimmed down while retaining outstanding performance and quality, this is an heirloom pump that will offer the precise readings you need to achieve your goal pressure, whether you're a roadie, an MTB fanatic or a gravel fan."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Silca says:

Heavy-duty 3in (76mm) gauge with Multi-Scale Gauge technology

Pinpoint accuracy of 0.5 psi at low pressures, along with accuracy of 1 psi at high pressures

Rated to 120psi, making it suitable for all types of riding

Aluminium locking, reversible Presta/Schrader chuck with bleed button

Barrel and handle made from light yet durable aluminium

Attractive, hand-lathed Ash wood handle with hose guide

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
9/10
Rate the product for value:
 
4/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

It does what you ask of it with a smile - it's a joy to use and works perfectly on both high volume and high pressure tyres.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The engineering of the chuck that makes changing between Schrader and Presta so easy.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

The price.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

All Silca pumps are pretty expensive; this one is by no means the priciest in the range. It's possible to get decent pumps that cost far less (see the review for details) and they will do the job just as well.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? No, too expensive for me

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes, but only if money was no object

Use this box to explain your overall score

Everything about this pump is excellent, apart from the price.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 44  Height: 1.78m  Weight: 77kg

I usually ride: All of them!  My best bike is: Ribble Endurance SL disc

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, commuting, touring, club rides, mtb, Zwift

Add new comment

4 comments

Avatar
Dnnnnnn | 6 months ago
0 likes

Inflated price.

Avatar
Xenophon2 | 6 months ago
0 likes

8 bar max.  Which means insufficient to get an airshot to the pressure required to seat higher volume gravel tires on the rim.

My JoeBlow Sports goes to 11 bar, costs 25% and has been serving me well for >10 years.

But I'll stipulate that the Silca looks nicer.

Avatar
ktache replied to Xenophon2 | 6 months ago
1 like

My Joe blow delux is into its third decade. With a cobbled together second smarthead, which I will replace with the new shiny one if needed.

I love Topeak for pumps, kind of regret my Lezyne mini floor purchase, looks great but I'd much rather have the equivalent Topeak. Can never justify replacing it though.

Avatar
ktache | 6 months ago
0 likes

Lovely thing, and as you point out,  cheap in the range.

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