Silca adds five new products to line

As with its predecessors, the Pista Plus built to outlast the rest of your cycling equipment. The durable steel barrel, 3mm-thick leather plunger piston design proprietary brass check-valve assembly ensure unrivaled longevity, not just in material strength but rebuild-ability as well.

The small-diameter barrel combined with the superior pumping efficiency of the Italian leather plunger washer and German Igus linear bearings also mean that Pista Plus is capable of reaching pressures of up to 220 PSI, another nod to the Pista heritage.

The ‘Plus’ in Pista Plus stands for ‘Plus stability.’ Whereas the classic Pista has a flat profile and other design features that make it an ideal travel pump, the Pista Plus is made for those who prefer to leave the pump at home, in the shop, or at the velodrome. With a three-footed aluminum base and an enlarged lathe-turned Ash handle, the Pista Plus shares some of the ergonomics and superior stability of the SuperPista Ultimate platform.

Pista Plus has a long filler hose with an integrated Schrader chuck and Silca’s push-on alloy Presta chuck with a bleeder valve. The chuck dock is an intelligent design enhancement over the previous design, now securing the Schrader portion, meaning that the rider can choose to swap the standard Presta chuck for the HIRO chuck, Disc Wheel Adapter, (or any other thread on-chuck for that matter) and still secure the hose. The gauge has also been upgraded to a slightly larger 64mm gauge for improved readability and accuracy.

Highlights:

• Durable, high-strength steel barrel
• Full-size Ash wood handle with hose guide
• High-efficiency SILCA leather plunger piston design
• Brass air bridge and check-valve assembly
• Precise, heavy-duty 2.5” (64mm) gauge
• Long filler hose with integrated Schrader chuck
• Push-one alloy presta chuck with Bleeder valve
• Rated to 220psi
• MSRP $145

The SILCA Ypsilon Y-Wrench

A New Twist On A Mechanic’s Favorite

Silca has taken the compact and handy layout of the y-wrench and improved on it with the completely new innovation of a customizable 3rd bit slot.

The Ypsilon (pronounced ip.si.lon) is Silca’s take on the unassuming y-wrench. Pro mechanics, bike shops, and avid home mechanics have long preferred the layout of this tool due to the ergonomic benefits that make it more convenient and more enjoyable to use. Most tools in this layout feature 4mm, 5mm and 6mm keys; meaning that the wrenches for some of the most common use cases in cycling are readily available in one tool. The shape of the y-wrench also offers superior control and stability over traditional hex keys, especially in tighter work spaces.

The Ypsilon was designed by a team of engineers and mechanics who obsess over every fine detail. Unlike traditional y-wrench designs, Ypsilon is customizable and adaptable to the mechanic’s preferences. This is accomplished by using a ¼” bit collet with magnetic attachment in place of one of the hex wrenches. This departure from the traditional y-wrench design was inspired by the versatility of Silca’s T-Ratchet + Ti Torque kit, and means that Ypsilon can easily transform into any tool you need simply by swapping out the 3rd bit. The other two ends of the tool 4mm and 5mm hex keys, common to many fasteners across cycling.

Another key benefit of Ypsilon is the tight tolerances of the keys and bits. Tighter tolerances mean a better tool fit which drastically decreases the likelihood of rounding out fastener heads. These tight tolerances, combined with the CrV steel spine of the tool make Ypsilon incredibly durable. A lightweight composite body with ergonomic grips provide good comfort and control with the contact points of your hand.

The Ypsilon y-wrench comes in three variations; Ypsilon Home Kit, Ypsilon Travel Kit or just the y-wrench on its own.

Highlights:

• Customizable 3rd side using standard 1/4″ bits in a magnetic collet
• Precision Bits and Tight Tolerances for Precision in Use
• Durable CrV Steel Spine
• Ergonomic Composite Body

Available in three versions:

• The Ypsilon Home Kit was inspired by our renowned HX-ONE Home Essentials kit and comes in a custom Birchwood box with a range of Hex, Torx and Screw bits that sit in a customizable foam insert. MSRP $108
• The Ypsilon Travel Kit comes with everything that the Home Kit comes with minus the box MSRP $74
• The Ypsilon Wrench, with no extra bits MSRP $36

The SILCA Sicuro Carbon Bottle Cage

A Carbon Cage First – Supreme Grip Plus Ease of Use

The Sicuro Carbon Bottle Cage is the result of combining Silca’s 40+ years of carbon fiber engineering and manufacturing experience with their world-first 3-stage bottle cage testing protocols developed during Sicuro Titanium Cage development. True to their namesake, Sicuro (meaning secure), the design of these bottle cages was directly driven from hundreds of lab tests and analysis of high-speed video of cage behavior during these tests, plus more than a year of on road testing.

The design of Sicuro Carbon focuses on three factors: perfectly matched geometry, lateral stability and vibration damping.

The majority of water bottle ejections from carbon cages happen because the cage fails to prevent the bottle from walking upward when exposed to certain frequencies of vibration. Most companies try to solve this by increasing grip force on the bottle, making it harder to insert and remove.  The problem with this is that along with wearing out bottles, the tight grip can actually hold the bottle in a semi-ejected state as it walks upward when exposed to washboard type surfaces, perfectly placing it to be ejected with the next large impact.

Using their multi-axis shake rig and high speed cameras, Silca learned they could use less grip force combined with a perfectly designed forward lip geometry and unique ‘wings’ on the sides of the cage to drive the bottle back down into the cage under these same frequencies.  We learned that we could further eliminate walking of the bottle by adding a film of viscoelastic polymer to the layup, allowing the cage itself to reduce the vibration forces on the bottle.  The result: No walking, no ejecting.

One of the most interesting findings to emerge from testing was the effect that cage bolts have on both bottle retention as well as cage fatigue life. Each SICURO Carbon bottle cage comes with two of Silca’s Premium Titanium Mounting Bolts. Each bolt is machined in one operation from 6Al/4V Titanium on a Swiss Lathe. The low-profile flange head design of the bolt distributes load across nearly 3x more surface area than a cap screw and 2x the surface area of a button head for increased rigidity and lower stress. Sicuro Carbon Bottle Cages feature the same elongated mounting slots that Silca pioneered with the Sicuro Titanium Bottle Cages.

These elongated mounting slots give you 12mm of fore/aft adjustment to account for the variance in bottle boss location across different frame manufacturers. Lastly, the bottom of SICURO Carbon bottle cages contain a unique accessory mounting platform, something Silca is excited to expand upon in the near future.

Specs:

• Unidirectional Omni-ply layup
• Exceptional bottle retention
• Extended adjustment mounting
• Low profile 6-4 Titanium mounting bolts
• 26 grams w/o bolts
• MSRP $70

The SICURO Titanium Cage from SILCA

Aerospace materials and construction with versatile mounting solution

The SICURO Titanium is the classic Ti bottle cage re-engineered with an eye for the details that you’ve come to expect from SILCA. Each cage is hand-made at SILCA’s Indianapolis headquarters using custom manufacturing processes and a state of the art laser welder, the first of its kind in the bicycle industry.

Made from ultra-lightweight aerospace-grade titanium tubing, these cages also feature unique oval-shaped eyelets which allow fore/aft adjustability to account for differences in mounting locations from frame to frame, enabling riders to place cages precisely where they want them.

Why create bottle cages using premium materials and aerospace technology? SICURO Ti cages are part of the Ultimate product line with the Shield Warranty; which means SILCA guarantees they’ll last for twenty-five years.  They are confident the 3-2.5 Titanium and precise laser welds will endure. After the bending and welding process, each cage is then polished by hand, sealed and finally stamped with the SILCA shield on the base plate before being packaged and shipped.

Specs:

• Seamless 3-2.5 titanium tubing
• Extended adjustment mounting
• Includes Silca’s highly engineered Low-profile 6-4 titanium mounting bolts
• 29 grams w/o bolts
• MSRP $70