So as far as tire levers go, these are expensive but still a small expenditure at $18.00 here. I have carbon rims and like how these work with the rims. The tires were easier to get on and off with less worry about damage.
This is a good product, but the problem is that you can't put a tire back on with these levers. Silca specifically states that as it would scratch/gouge/damage a rim. So when you're out on a ride, what's the point? If you have to remove a tire, you will need to put it back on. So then what, carry a different set of levers?
If you're running clinchers, these may be unnecessary. If you're running a tubeless setup these are essential for three reasons; strength, thickness and material. Internally the lever is aluminum but externally they are plastic. They have all the rigidity and strength not to bend when installing and removing tubeless tyres. They are thin enough to flip the last portion of a tubeless tyre when installing and the plastic externals prevent rim damage. I'm not sure what people are doing to damage aluminum rims using these levers, but these work great with carbon rims.
The levers look sleek and I was able to use it to remove my Conti 5000TL from my Ksyrium wheel, but it wasn't handy enough to get the tire back on. I also ended up scratching the side of the aluminum rim (thank goodness it wasn't carbon).
The levers felt solid and firm. But the tips ended up scratching (not deep, thankfully) the rear aluminum rim on my Mavic Ksyrium while trying to install a very tight Conti GP5000 Tubeless tire.
I'm running Schwalbe Pro-Ones on Enve 4.5 AR rims. A fabulous combo EXCEPT the tire is very tight on the rim. I know a few folks with the same setup who were unable to get the tires unmounted while at a workbench, let alone roadside. However, with these levers I had no problem. They're very strong, and the tips are shaped just right to grab the tire bead without harming the tubeless tape. My other levers, Pedros and similar, were just too blunt and useless in this case.
I think if you're running regular tubed clinchers on alloy rims, you don't have to be choosy about your levers. But for tight tubeless, if you get a puncture that requires a roadside tube installation, these are the only tools I'd consider.
As to price which is cheaper, a set of these or a single Uber?
