SILCA 751 Leather Piston Gasket

Since the 1960's all SILCA leather gaskets have come from the same leather converting house in the fashion district of Milan, Italy.  For more than 5 decades the same supplier has cut these washers from the excess material left over from the production of exotic handbags, Italian luxury cars interiors, and high-fashion luggage.  A small press is used to trim and pressure-form these leather washers into durable pressure gaskets.

From a purely functional standpoint, inexpensive o-rings are most commonly used in this application, but no o-ring can match the smooth feel and zero-stiction action of a leather gasket.  It is common today to find SILCA leather gasket pumps throughout the professional peloton (especially during the spring classics) as o-ring seal pumps struggle with heat and often are unable to seal once the pump barrel is hot from inflating more than a few wheels.