The tyre lever, though seemingly one of the simplest and most basic of cycling tools, is one commonly used by almost every cyclist, and unfortunately, one often responsible for unnecessary frustration. At one end you have a standard looking curved hook, like any other tyre lever on the market, for removing the tyre. The lever is designed so that you wrap your fingers around the bottom flat section and the D-shaped section protects you from scraping the bark off your knuckles should the lever slip. Tyre levers aren't a big investment, but it's worth making sure you choose the best tyre levers so when your ride is interrupted by a puncture you can get back underway quickly and easily.

The lever head is the right thickness and curvature to effectively slide and hook itself underneath the tyre bead.The Schwalbe tyre levers work extremely well and bring some useful extra functionality to mounting tyres as well as being very good at removing them.

With no flex, it’s that much easier to coax the tyre over the rim – and it’s much more reassuring feeling like you’re not about to break them.

A mountain biker at heart, Nick helped create a community of trail builders in his local forest in North Wales.

The qualities we look for are how easy it is to hook the tyre lever under the tyre, the flex and robustness, as well as any extra qualities or features specific to the design.

As a pair of final party tricks, these SKS levers have an integrated valve core tightener and Schrader bleeder.