You’ll never go back to the old way of mounting tyres

We’ve all been there, and some of us literally have the scars to prove it. You know – the stubborn tyre that won’t budge during removal or squeeze over the bead during fitment. Most of the time, it can turn ugly very quickly unless you’ve got wrists, forearms and biceps the size of John Cena. While tight beads usually come down to the secure fit required by modern tubeless tyre systems, not to mention the rise of wider rim widths and tighter manufacturing tolerances, if you’re a prolific rider and log thousands of miles a year, chances are you’ve faced this agonisingly frustrating issue.

Thankfully, there is a solution: the Smart Lever created by Mark Searles of Bicycle Innovations. Despite the name, the lever is not digital but rather a reimagined, time-saving, less painful way to fit and remove bicycle tyres.

I spent a few weeks using it across various applications, from mountain bike and road to gravel tyres, to see how it stacks up against the traditional options in the best tyre lever space.