Pffffft, you know the sound. Once again, a tyre breathes its last, beaten up by a field of stones or chopped down by thorny bushes. Now it's time to administer first aid to the tyre's lungs. But first the patient has to be "opened". This is often not so easy if you don't have the routine of kneading tyres from the rim like a baker kneads bread dough. Some models cling extremely stubbornly to the rim flange. The appropriate surgical tool for tough cases is the tyre lever. Bikers should always carry two with them for emergencies. In the case of the Speedier Lever from Crank Brothers, one is sufficient. The Remove side is used to safely lever the tyre off the rim. The Install hook lifts the tyre back into the rim bed after initial treatment. The Shuttle Lever works similarly well. The short part of the "piggyback rocket" lifts the tyre off the rim flange, the long, stable lever does the rest. Lezyne, Maxxis, Park Tool and Pedros use the classic method of levering up, hooking into the spoke and pulling off with the second tyre lever.
You can find these tyre levers in the test:
Lezyne Power Lever
A small neoprene tube holds the two rather small levers together. They are more suitable for levering the tyre off the rim. If you want to strip the tyre, they often slip off the edge of the rim. Also available in black.
Info/Price www.lezyne.com/4,90 Euro
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Park Tool TL-1
The classic Park Tool tyre lever is somewhat narrow, but still fits well in the hand and holds all common spoke shapes. The second tyre lever is used to lift the tyre off the rim piece by piece.
Info/Price www.grofa.com/3,95 Euro
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Pedros Tire Levers
The angular Pedros levers also stick together like pitch and sulphur in the rucksack. They stick to all spokes. Thanks to the wide design, you can pull the tyre off the rim with a lot of force.
Info/Price www.cosmicsports.de/4,95 Euro
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Maxxis tyre lever
The sturdy levers in typical Maxxis orange fit well in the hand and pull the tyre off the rim with stable guidance. Unfortunately, they do not hold together in the rucksack. The narrow spoke holder does not fit on thicker aluminium rims.
Info/Price www.maxxis.com/4,90 Euro
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Crank Brothers Speedier Lever
The Speedier Lever sits in the hand like a knuckle duster and gives every tyre a beating. It lies securely on the rim when the tyre is removed. The install side pushes the tyre safely back over the rim, but only on aluminium models.
Info/Price www.crankbrothers.com/7,00 Euro
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Topeak Shuttle Lever 2.1
Like the space shuttle, the yellow jack sits on the long carrier rocket. The small shuttle lifts the tyre off the rim and the sturdy black jack then pulls the tyre off with a lot of thrust. Unfortunately, it lacks some guidance.
Info/Price www.topeak.de/9,95 Euro
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Downloads:
Stefan Frey
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