SILCA TATTICO

£60

SPECIFICATION Weight: 168g • Contact: saddleback.co.uk

Silca pumps are fantastic quality, and the Tattico Mini Pump is no different – it uses a 6061-series aluminium barrel with high-grip surfaces machined into the alloy handles. The shaft is anodised to a high gloss and, while there is a bit of a metalon-metal sound, the action is super-smooth and effortless.

Hidden underneath a rubber cap is a small extendable hose, which pulls out and threads into the opposite end of the pump. The problem is that it’s a tight fit and the hose would often get stuck inside. There’s also very little to get hold of, and we’d often need to use something to pry out the head. Once free, it locked on to the valve pretty easily using the mini thumb-lock. The pump can be swapped from Presta to Schrader by simply unscrewing the end cap and flipping it round.

The Tattico is pretty long, but it lacks the volume of some of the fatter pumps in this test and, as such, took a bit longer to inflate our test tyre. We never trapped our fingers between the handles, but I had to do nearly 300 strokes to reach 23psi. If you run higher pressures than that, you’re going to have to be strong and patient.

Despite the superb build quality, we docked the Tattico points because we snapped the plastic frame clamp after one ride. It’s expensive, getting the hose out of the pump is fiddly, and this is only going to get worse if any grit or dirt gets in there.