Two summers ago my wife and I had the pleasure of visiting friends in Switzerland. The country is so expensive that I took home only two souvenirs: white Assos socks and a pair of Lezyne tyre levers. I assumed Lezyne was a European company. It was in this Swiss bike shop and I’d never seen the brand in an American store, ever. “Ewwww, exotic Swiss tire levers, I can afford these.” The levers were white “composite matrix” with a natty neoprene sleeve but really I bought them because I could fit them in my luggage and they were affordable ($4 US). Switzerland wisely (for them) never joined the EU but the Swiss franc makes buying swag painful. As a side note, the Assos socks are really well made. They look a tad less white now but have retained their essential Assos sock essence in every other respect.
Two years on and these levers have earned and kept the coveted number one position in my mobile rear pocket man-sachel. They are superior levers. Their hook design works better than levers made by Park, Pedros or King. I haven’t tried the Mavics Bretto has revered. I don’t know what the “composite matrix” is but it is strong as hell. Should it be so hard, designing an effective tyre lever? These are like medical instruments. Nurse, Lezyne tyre lever please. The thinness and specific curve of the bead hook makes these the levers used atop Mt Velomis.
Michelin tyres and Campagnolo rims (my favorite pairing) are at opposite ends of the clincher fit tolerances. They are wicked tight, harder to get off and on than the recently abandoned tubeless Hutchinsons. No other levers so easily get under the Michelin bead and take the horrible strain like these Lezynes do.
Sitting on the edge of the road in Kuala Lumpur, sweat pouring down your face as you bend to the task of switching inner-tubes, the sounds of snapping stalks from the jungle getting closer. Do you want the best tyre levers in your sweaty trembly hands? For you tubular riders, these might be excellent for husking that punctured tyre off the rim. At 26 grams, it would not be a bad bet. Hell, if you have to defend yourself against the enraged Malaysian monkey, a mini-pump in one hand and an unbreakable Lezyne medical instrument in the other might work out for you.
There, I’ve gone and done it. I’ve written an article singing the praises of a tyre lever and I can’t stop spelling tyre with a “y”. It’s what we do here. We obsess.
Disclaimer: Velominati has a friendly relationship with Lezyne and we have received some very well designed and well executed products of theirs, as have Keepers Tour riders from the 2012 Belgian love-fest. As I stated at the begining of this post, I bought these tyre tools when I didn’t know the first thing about the company. I admit that I was so impressed by their tyre levers I was inclined to try more of their products but my dirty Schleck love for these levers is not influenced by our relationship with Lezyne.
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@G'rilla
agreed. The alu on alu wheels will have you cussing in no time. They unfortunately sit in the bottom of "that" box now. Maybe its my sissy hands though, so disregard.
Nice work, Gianni! Ha, I was lucky enough to visit Japan for a graduate school trip and due to loans and Budgetatus the only thing I brought home was...a hat I found! But, it's now my beach hat, which many school children wear around, maybe even part of their uniform for some. Anyway, the hat is great and a small tag inside tells me it was made in...Italy! How about that? Thankfully I've got a small head (wear small in most helmets!) and thus, a children's sun hat fits me just fine.
Hmm, I really like Pedros levers but I have not tried these. Always room for improvement, right? And, if these work with Campa rims, yes, sign me up. The Campa rims on my Tommasini are a true nightmare to mount tyres on, I think because something has changed between 1990, when the rims were made, and now, which is when my new tyres were made.
Have always wondered about this - do metal levers not damage the rim? Always been a fear/misconception of mine.
VeloVita - LBS doesn't have them. That brings up an important point for discussion: I now have four LBSs and they each kind of cater to a certain cyclist, none of them being a Velominatus. Sometimes I'll give it a go and stop into all four to see if they have what I'm after. Sometimes I'll call. Usually this results in wasted time. Where does one draw the line between supporting & saving time/money?
Last week I was after some CX shoe cleat bolt plates. (I think they have a more proper name. The 4 hole plate that goes into the shoe sole that the cleat is screwed into.) Stopped at two, neither had them. I know, a kind-of-odd part, but not really.
And gotta ask - end of the world is coming. Will the Velominati in New Zealand be the first to get their last bike ride?
@Ron
Nah, you've seen all the disaster movies and tv shows Ron, the end of the world always starts in the US!
I really like the design philosophy of Lezyne stuff, and these levers show why, their stuff works, and people love them more than they really should love a tyre lever. I'd love their caddy products to have dedicated C02 pockets, their wallet is sick, but just missing that one extra pocket before I could buy. The Caddy sack looks the goods for now.
As for the LBS question, as with Rule 58, just be prepared to fit stuff you buy online yourself. I found a couple shops around, one on my commute is more expensive for parts, but the mechanics are excellent, and being on the commute is convenient when I can't be bothered with an extra trip to another one so sometimes I will spend more on the parts there. But I am a Velominatus Budgetatus, and buying things like the bottom offered wheels (although a better spec) at most stores is double what you can get the cheapest offerings for online. If I had the disposable income like most of the guys on the group rides who make fun of my bike and whos bikes cost more than my car, I might just support one, but with young family and one income, spending on the bike must be low as possible. And you can't be apologetic for doing all you can.
Ah yes, right. Disaster always starts in the U.S. I haven't seen too many of those movies though; I'm still catching up on plenty of classic movies I'd like to see. Same with books - I don't understand how so many folks can read current best sellers when there are so many great older books out there.
Caddy Sack just got better, the zipper has been replaced with a roll top design. Hmm, I'm thinking somewhere in their Lezyne Design department commutes with Ortlieb roll top panniers...
@Nate
The Keepers have been a-grueling on our book for a Pommy publisher so I got in the habit of spelling it that way. Do you have any idea how many times the word "tire" comes up in a cycling book? Shiet-loads! Spell check is not happy and I'm confused, do our antipodal friends spell it with a Y too?
@Gianni Can't your pommy editor just fix it globally?
'Tire' is just a lazy way for Americans to spell tyre.
@Gianni
@Nate
The spelling of Kilometre in rule 26 always stands out to me. If you are going to have a rule encouraging the use of a non American measure then you may as well also spell it the non American way to confuse your co-workers further.
And, being a geek, wiki delivers. There is actually a section devoted to the spelling of tire/tyre in the article discussing the physical object itself! It states that as late as the 1920's the British spelling was officially 'tire'.
Speaking for the antipodes, they tend to use British english (It's all about the Commonwealth old chum!), so tyre is the accepted spelling. The 's' vs 'z' always used to lose me marks...
I have always wondered, if you are from a country where English is a second or lower language, do you learn British or American English? Would our European, Middle Eastern and Asian Velominati like to comment?
And finally, this search resolved for me what I had always wondered, a Billion is One Thousand Million (from American English, that superceded the British English One Million Million).