Tire Tools: A Lever Round-Up

You need more than just an air source.

 Tires: Nothing gets people talking more about bicycles than perhaps what tires that they think you should run. But tires are pretty useless without specific tools to work on them with. 

In this post I will cover a little spoken about tool that is an imperative for anyone wanting to ride a bicycle. It involves removal and installation of tires. You really, really  need to know how to remove and install a bicycle tire. This skill set is so valuable and important that I cannot believe that what I am going to share today doesn't come up more often than it does. 

What is that? Well, it is the lowly tire lever, that's what. Everyone knows you have to have air in a bicycle tire, so a pump, or some air source, is important. But when it comes to removing a tube, or a tire, you will quickly learn the importance of a good tire lever.

You've probbaly seen these on the counters of bike shops near the money exchanging machines. (I'd say cash register, but hardly anyone under 30 years of age probably uses a buying method that requires one of those anymore.) Anyway, those odd levers in plastic. Generally stacked together in sets of three. Yeah....whatever. A tire lever. psssshaw! They are all the same.....

So wrong.....soooo wrong! 

I've swapped hundreds of tires- maybe thousands- over my career as a bicycle mechanic, so I'm intimately familiar with tire levers, and I can tell you that there certainly are good ones, bad ones, and okay ones. Today I will show you all three types. Now- this is not an unabridged tire lever review. There are a LOT of tire levers out there and I certainly will not have covered all the good ones. But I do know what to look for, and I know what a bad tire lever is. So, let's take a look at what I have to show you today.

Tire levers from my collection, and this is not all of them!

In the image above you see a collection of tire levers and numbers corresponding to each. Below you will get my take on each one of these. 

1. KOM Tire Levers: These are pretty darn good tire levers and the reasons why are many. They have a nicely shaped, wide hook to pry with. The material used to make them with is stiff and sturdy, so flex- which is bad- does not hinder your levering. They have ribs on their body for really good grip. They have a Presta Valve core remover built in, (good for you tubeless tire users) and the spoke hook is angled well to allow for you to work on another lever when removing a tire. (How you do that is not covered here) When you buy these from KOM you get a nifty aluminum Schrader/Presta core removal tool which nests right in the lever pair which nests into itself rather securely. Nit: The spoke hook bit s finicky. Overall Rating: 9.5 out of 10
2. Not really a "tire lever", per se', but a nifty tool nonetheless. This is the Quick Stik. It is used to peel off a bead from a rim on stubborn tire/rim combinations. You probably would never want one on the bike, but this is a great tool for the shop and comes in handy if you have a fleet of family bikes to maintain, for instance. Overall Rating: 7 out of 10 because it isn't a tire lever and is sort of specific in use. 
3. Generic Lever: This is an example of those cheap, add-on sales type levers you may see in a big bowl, or in a box at the front of a store. Usually sold in sets of three nested together. Note the minuscule lip on the bead hook. See how short the lever is compared to others here and how narrow it is. This is a great example of a bad tire lever. Do not buy! Overall rating 2 out of 10. 
4. Bontrager Tire Lever, circa late 00's/early 2010's. No longer available. This was a pretty decent lever. The pointed lip on the bead hook was pretty useful in certain situations and the lever was stiff. Could have been longer and the tips on these were prone to breaking off. Overall rating: 5 out of 10 for the weak tip and short length. 
5. Park Tools TL-1 Tire Levers: These levers, since discontinued for the nearly equally as bad TL 1.2, are not good. Weak plastic means that the bead hook lip deforms quickly, the spoke hook deforms, and the levers become nearly useless. The shape and size of the bead hook are not good.   Overall rating: 1 out of 10. 
6. Pedro's Tire Levers: These levers, and Maxxis tire levers, (not shown) are some of my all-time favorite tools for tires. A wide bead hook lip and sturdy plastic construction give a firm grip and these are a joy to use. They come in pairs, in several fun colors, and are really durable tools which should last most people nearly forever. Overall Rating: 9.5 out of 10 (Same for the mentioned Maxxis levers) Nearly perfect tools. 
7. Soma Steel Core Tire Levers; These are good. Really good. I just wish that they were a bit wider. Stiff as all-get-out due to their steel core. Heavy due to their steel core. They do not nest together, so its easy to have them get separated and to lose one one or both. Get these if you have really tight fitting tires with tubes. Overall Rating: 8 out of 10. Just misses on a few points for me. 
8. Old Bontrager/Trek branded levers: Not a great design due to their overly curved shape and plastic that was a bit brittle which led to a lever easily broken. Shown as an example of a goofy shaped lever which isn't necessary. If you see something like this, avoid it. Overall Rating: 5 out of 10.
   

So, again- there are more levers you can shake a stick at out there, so I get it if you have your favorites not shown here. Honestly, I could live the rest of my days with Maxxis and Pedros levers and never look back, so perhaps this is why I don't show you more than these. Just grab a set of Pedros levers and be happy. But if you have others you like, rock them! 

I'll have a companion post to this covering other tire tools soon.