Never rely on Topeak multi-tool tyre levers, they snap far too easily. Eventually risked it rather than walk home and used the screwdriver on my swiss army knife. I have now seen the light and bought some Park levers.

Yeah, they’re sort of emergency backups I reckon. Lezyne powerlevers recommended, incidentally.

ftw………

Pedro’s +1

naaah. Mine got relegated to the car toolbox, they’re good but the Lezynes are better IMO.

+1 for pedros

Pedros

Nice bright colours so you don’t lose them in the grass.

Mind you,I still have my Pedros Milk Levers (a free gift on some mag years ago)

Pedros are chunky & strong but sometimes a bit too thick to sneak under a tight bead. I recently tried a Birzman. Thin but suprisingly strong & easy to sneak under a bead.

Don’t forget spend a few seconds unseating the bead right the way around the rim once the first lever goes in… I’ve not needed to use more than 1 lever or put it under much pressure for a long time!

Am I just lucky for never having snapped one?

Lezyne tyre leavers here, they’re alloy, can make a mess of your rims if you’re not careful, but they’re never gonna snap.

I’ve snapped a few Pedros. The search goes on.

Intense tyre irons as the nuclear option.

You lot just need to develop proper bloke thumbs!!

You need to get the tyre in the well of the rim and it will practically fall off.

Shortcut +1, I don’t even own any!

I’ve had these for over 10 years

and still have all 3, shame you can’t get them any closer than Australia

Snapped a few over the years. The Topeak ones from the side of the multi-tool just folded. Luckily I threw the swiss army knife in the bag before I left home.

shortcut – Member
You lot just need to develop proper bloke thumbs!!

You need to get the tyre in the well of the rim and it will practically fall off.

Even for road tyres?

I’ve got these Park ones. You’ll never snap them but you might break a few rims with them.
I don’t use tyre levers though, not found a rim-tyre combo that I can’t manage with my thumbs and a bit of spittle. 🙂
Michelin DH16s were a bastard though.

I agreee with shortcut and njee20, my mate (an ex cycle courier) rolls them on and off with his bare hands. I’ve sussed the technique , and have an exercise regime in place for my fingers and thumbs. I’ll be ready for any tyre in about 6 months.

Shortcut +1, I don’t even own any!

I do, and do tend to carry some just in case the force fails, but can’t remember when I last used any. It’s all about technique, not thumb strength.

The yellow ones at Decathlon have served me well. I find the Park ones too thick and brittle personally.

Pah ! Tyre levers are for nancy boys.

D. (every finger a marlin spike) 8)

Some metal ones from halfords when i was passing you wont break them

i agree most rim /tyres dont need them but some do IME.

I bow to those with stronger hands. Now how exactly did you get such a strong grip and such strong wrists 😉

I’ve snapped a park one, despite having arms like a 9 year old girl 😀

Actually I’ve found the decathlon ones to be pretty good. The blue plastic Park ones are incredibly strong but I can assure you that when one does break its spectacular!

For anyone who claims not to need levers you need to try my turbo trainer tyre – I had to take the embarrassing step of going to the LBS to get it fitted. He laughed, tried to fit by hand. Then went to get his lever, then went to get his longer lever, and it still took 20 minutes of puffing and swearing! [this from a very experienced old school bike mechanic not the saturday girl!]

Eyerideit – a couple of years ago they were available in Decathlon, i know because i bought some and they are to date my longest serving tyre levers.

park ones (in my experience of the past week) are utter shite. i’ll post a pic of mine tomorrow, but the hook ends of 2 of the 3 now pretty much hook backwards.

they’re awful.

was only up-until trying to fit conti race kings to stans crests that i needed to employ the levers for the first time in years. i really would like to see someone remove them without (60 psi hasn’t even got them fully popped out of the gutter of the rim…)

Hungry monkey,try these
http://www.fatspanneruk.com/product_details.aspx?Product=Large-Tyre-Levers
They work.
Ian

+ 1 for those yellow Michelin levers posted above.
They are so thin they can slip under any tight bead.
Most of the other ones are too thick to fit under a real tight bead, and when they do they’ll pinch your tube!

and still have all 3, shame you can’t get them any closer than Australia

BTW you don’t need to get them from Aus. Continental do an exact copy of them. Best 2 quid you’ll ever spend IMO.

njee20 … you dont own any thumbs ?

Sadly not! It makes life awkward for sure, I lease mine.

As said though, it’s easier to remove a tyre properly by hand than the wrestle it on with levers.

Soma steel core tyre levers for the win.

Obvious question, Is everyone actually releasing the bead from both sides?

Most off road tyres don’t need a lever.

I did work experience in a bike shop and the one thing I took away from that was how to remove a tyre without levers. Unseat the bead all the way round, get it in the middle of the wheel and MTFU 😀

No wonder bike shops are in trouble if they can’t even implement the use of a simple mechanical device to simplify common basic jobs.

my preferred weapon of choice for tyre removal.

No wonder bike shops are in trouble if they can’t even implement the use of a simple mechanical device to simplify common basic jobs.

Not simpler though is it, and some metal ones do mark rims etc, which some folk can get a bit testy about.

I’ve found the road tyres on the commuter easier to deal with than off road tyres. Still, shouldn’t be that hard if you push the bead down into the rim as you seat the tyre, right…?

Obvious question, Is everyone actually releasing the bead from both sides?

Most off road tyres don’t need a lever.

True.