Tyre levers are rubbish. All mine in my commuting emergency kit are snapped or split 🙁
Workshop ones are OK but they're metal with rubber coating and are too heavy to be carried with me.
Need to be able to use them in wet freezing conditions on the way to work (punctures seem to always be when it's chucking it down and my fingers are freezing)
Anyone have experience of a set that don't just break or bend like cheese?
I've seen a few video adverts for alternatives to tyre levers or that "reinvent" them... tyre monkey is a name that comes to mind. Are they all hype or are any of them genuinely better?
As already said...Pedro's
Tyre glider
The sonder ones are the best ones I've used. I save those for particularly tricky tyres.
Giant, with included valve core remover.
I've got few sets of Topeak shuttle I think they're called. Been using them for years and they seem great.
Git some park ones that are ok as well, but nowhere near as good as the Topeak ones though.
Never tried pedros but they always come up when people ask here. I'll buy some next time I need some.
I haven't had to buy any more since I bought a set of Park Tool ones a decade ago.
Pedro's or Park Tool
Pedro's - never snapped one. I have a set on each bike.
Park- snapped one last month. They have lasted years. Not as good as Pedro's as they aren't as wide.
Came here to suggest Pedros
Has anyone suggested Pedro's yet?
Pedros. Used twice today unfortunately.
Fab... looks like I'll be buying some Pedro's ones.
Park Tools are the ones I have at the moment that are snapped - they lasted longer than any others but still snapped.
The park tool ones with the steel inside look good for the workshop - bit thinner than my current ones which can be difficult to get under a bead sometimes. Might invest in some of those too.
Thanks
The pedros ones are shit in comparison to...
Schwalbe flats.
Super thin, non bendy, proper hook that literally just hooks the bead and allows the tightest of tyre and i mean REALLY tight tyres to be removed and Even fitted with the least fuss.
What’re you doing to break them with such consistency? I’ve never broken a tyre lever. You can feel/see when you’re approaching their limit and stop, change strategy, move things a bit or simply give up with it. I’m running tubeless road on tight carbon rims and things are tight, sure, but not breaking tight.
Are you double or ttriple wrapping tape or using liners that make getting the tyre into the well of the rim difficult?
VAR
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tools/var-tyre-levers/
Really good at getting a tight tyre back on.
Also Pedros for getting it off to start with.
Another vote for trusty Pedros here.
Pedros gave the added bonus of being easier to spot at the bottom of your bag when everything else in there is black or silver.
In my hip pack though I have something like these: https://ebay.us/m/MdmRjM
Not those exact ones but basically the same, bought from a kickstarter or whatever well over a decade ago and still going strong. Always the ones I reach for in the garage with a particularly tight tyre
In my hip pack though I have something like these:
I was just about to ask if these were any good, having seen them on a YT video a couple of days ago. Thanks for the link.
Free ones that came with a copy of MBR a few years ago which look like a copy of the Pedros
Pedros. And Cushcore heavy duty for workshop use.
You’ll break long before Park TL-5s will. Not ones for out and about though.
What’re you doing to break them with such consistency?
+1
1) If you're puncturing that often, change your tyres. Either they're old and puncture prone, or you need something more resistant to begin with.
2) Technique. In 99% of cases it should be possible to get the tyre on without levers, and if you've arrived at that 1%, see point 1 and change your tyre. Let all the air out the tube, start opposite the valve, push the bead into the centre of the rim and work back to the valve symmetrically. If it gets tight, go back to the start and use that tension to pop the bead into the centre of the rim. Removing the tyre is the reverse, pop it off the bead all the way around, using one hand to keep some tension on it at the valve, then once it's got some slack, pop it over the rim.
For that 1%, the decathlon levers are really good.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/pack-of-3-tyre-levers-green/120/m8930710
Pedros gave the added bonus of being easier to spot at the bottom of your bag when everything else in there is black or silver.
Or when dropped in the grass after use
Cushcore, easily the best I have come across. Couple of mates have one in their packs.
Pedro are pretty good. As noted above, easy to find when dropped.
Those of you asking what you're doing to break a tyre lever?
Trying to fit anything on a WTB rim. Obviously.
Trying to fit anything on a WTB rim. Obviously.
WTB rims are not that bad. Try a challenge handmade CX or road tyre if you want a real fight. Again though use the correct technique and even they aren't that bad.
Oh and pedros for the win. I've several sets, most now well over 15 years old.
I've got some steel cored Hutchinson levers that are pretty good.
At home, it's the mighty Pedro's DH lever.
As quoted by 2tyred:
Not those exact ones but basically the same, bought from a kickstarter or whatever well over a decade ago and still going strong. Always the ones I reach for in the garage with a particularly tight tyre
I've had these for years as they double as a chain link splitter and also have a section that holds a chain link
Went for the Orange version as easier to find when mislaid.
I'm using Halfords advanced levers. Lifetime guarantee like the old Halfords tools used to be.
I told the person in the shop, I would probably make Halfords regret this choice financially but err, nope levers are still sound as a pound for now
Tyre Glider
I fitted a full set, front sand rear of continental Argotals in less than 5 mins with the tyre Glider, watch the video, it works as well as it says it does
I've not snapped Pedros levers, but I have bent them rendering them useless.
"Tell me you're not settling the tyre opposite the valve into the rim well and working back to the valve side, without telling me you're not settling the tyre opposite the valve into the rim well and working back to the valve side?"
I tried a tyre glider I didn't get on with it for tricky tight tyres.
I think my Pedro's levers are coming on for 15yrs old.
2) Technique. In 99% of cases it should be possible to get the tyre on without levers, and if you've arrived at that 1%, see point 1 and change your tyre.
No.
You're clearly very lucky that you've not had a 'magic' or 'b*stard' rim/ tyre combo, but when you do it's absolutely effing impossible. Bontrager tyres on Stans Crest rims, for example. Not only will the bead not go onto the rim, the bead then won't get out of the damn central channel; and by the time the bead's worn enough to fit easily, the tyre's past it and ready for the bin.
But both rim and tyre are excellent, so I don't see why I should have to compromise on either.
In 99% of cases it should be possible to get the tyre on without levers, and if you've arrived at that 1%, see point 1 and change your tyre.
I've repeated this ad nauseum on this forum. Gawd knows how many tyre/rim combos I've dealt with over the years, especially working in bike shops, but I hit a brick wall last year trying to fit some PZero road tyres onto Hunt carbon rims. It became obvious during my attempts that they were never going to fit, even when trying in ideal conditions. As a result, I sent them back to Sigma and got a no-quibble refund. The GP5000s I bought instead were a normal tight-but-fittable pleasure, popped on by thumb pressure only, by comparison.
FWIW I've never had any issues with WTB rims.
I tried the tyre glider, I found it more than useless, I think it is a tool to compensate for bad technique rather than proper tight tyres.
I had some tight tyres fitted with a rimpact insert that I just couldn't get off, someone on here recommended the vittoria tyre pliers, and they worked where everything else had failed.
My Park ones must be 20 years old and the only reason i need to replace them is that I've now lost 2 of the 3 I think. Will buy the same again.
I feel the combination of "Badger" plus "desire to remove tyres in a rapid manner" should have resulted in a specific picture being posted by now (unless I've totally flunked my STW folklore).
I’ve tried loads, but always end up going back to a cheap set of bright coloured Pedros or blue Park Tools levers. They’re the ones that last, always work and rarely break.
I also like the wide, flat Continental ones but they’re in 3rd place as they can bend sometimes.
Oddly I have snapped a Pedros lever on a Maxxis dh casing tyre. But I would definitely still recommend them.
Pedros are strong but they'er also really bulky, meaning they need more force and are more difficult with tight tyres. This is chicken and egg really, they have to be strong to work, because they work by brute force.
I like lezyne powerlevers. Specifically, the little ones with a hook on one end, they do 3 variants- the Matrix are similiar but worse, don't get those, the XL has a bulkier hook and just generally doesn't work as well.
These are the opposite, they're not strong at all, but they have the perfect hook shape, thin and shaped just right so they don't need to be strong, they get the job done with less force and don't need as much tyre slack. If you muscle them they will simply break (and the end falls in your tyre and it's really annoying) so, well, don't do that. I mean you will eventually and I do think they wear out over time, but, it shouldn't happen in normal use. Used right they get even super tricky dh tyres on by means of subtlety instead of brute force
I've got Pedro's, Muc-off and Topeak (I think) plastic ones that have all been fine.
I still have 2 out of a set of 3 plastic Continental ones that must be 30 years old by now.