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This week, we’re previewing some cool wheel and tyre tech before our full reviews are published. From Van Rysel’s affordable 50mm carbon wheels to PSI’s lightweight TPU inner tubes, plus Goodyear tyres designed for Zipp rims, another fresh take on the tyre lever, and Lezyne’s premium floor pump. Here are most of the things you need to know, with full reviews coming soon…
Van Rysel VR50 wheelset (£749.99)
We recently featured Scribe’s Inception 50+ Disc wheels, which offer a 50mm carbon rim depth at an impressive £649 price point. Now, we’re also testing Van Rysel’s VR50 wheelset – another 50mm deep carbon option, priced at £749.
Van Rysel claims the VR50s offer the “perfect blend of aerodynamics and lightness,” and at 1,550g, they come in lighter than the Scribes and only slightly heavier than more expensive sets like the £1,479 Hunt Sub50 Limitless Aero Disc Wheelset (1,430g).
Could these be another contender for the best value carbon road bike wheels? Josh Price is putting these to the test, so check back soon for the full verdict.
Buy from Decathlon for £749.99
PSI KIC TPU Innertube (£15.99)
TPU (short for Thermoplastic Polyurethane) inner tubes are a more recent alternative to butyl and latex tubes. As a material, TPU has the characteristics of both plastic and rubber.
PSI claims its KIC TPU Innertube is up to 70% lighter, 50% more compact, and just as puncture-resistant as a comparable butyl tube. As a material, TPU has another very important quality: it is easily recyclable.
Available in 48mm, 60mm, and 80mm valve lengths, we’re currently testing the 60mm version, which weighed in at just 36g on the road.cc Scales of Truth. For comparison, Tubolito’s Tubo Road tube (60mm valve) claims a weight of 39g and retails at £27.99.
Buy for £15.99 each from Kuga Sports
Better Bike Lever (£8.50)
While a set of tyre levers may not seem the most exciting concept, the Better Bike Levers are said to be “the strongest plastic tyre lever available” when the two levers are combined.
Shouldn’t that be the Better Bike Levers, then? We’ll leave it to you dear readers to discuss the semantics, plural and singular and so forth, but moving on… the levers also have a pivot feature, designed to make removing the tyre easier; however, you will need an Allen key or multitool to provide the pivot.
That’s the theory anyway. We’ll find out how they perform in our upcoming review.
Lezyne CNC Digital Drive 3.5 (£130)
At £130, the Lezyne CNC Digital Drive certainly isn’t cheap for a floor pump, but then again it is described as the “”ultimate, professional-grade” option.
Made from CNC-machined aluminium, it features a digital pressure gauge, an extra-long braided hose, and is compatible with both Presta and Schrader valves. It can inflate up to 220psi and weighs only 1.39kg on the road.cc Scales of Truth.
We’ll be putting its performance and quality to the test in our full review, landing on road.cc soon.
Goodyear Vector R Z35 SW tyre (£90)
A couple of months ago, Zipp launched a new range of tyres in collaboration with Goodyear, designed to “ensure safe retention” on its hookless rims.
The Goodyear Vector R tyres are specifically developed for Zipp’s 25mm internal width hookless tubeless rims, including the 303 and 353 models. We’re currently testing the Vector R Z35 SW, which is said to be optimised for the 303 wheels, though it’s compatible with all Zipp models.
For more information, go to Goodyear’s website
For all the latest full test reports on road.cc, head over to our reviews section. For more advice before splashing the cash you can check out our buyer’s guides, and head over to road.cc Recommends to find all our top-rated products in one place.
20 thoughts on “Is this the “strongest plastic tyre lever”? Plus more wheel and tyre tech from Van Rysel, Lezyne, Goodyear and PSI”
“… which is said to be
“… which is said to be optimised for the 303 wheels, though it’s compatible with all Zipp models.”
Well that sounds stupid. How about just keeping tires generally compatible? Wasn’t that the whole idea with the ETRTO TSS standards?
Have you tried one of these
Have you tried one of these tyre levers?;
https://tinyurl.com/24tazjcb
I’m pretty good at breaking tyre levers but one of these has served me well with even the tightest tyres.
I like the colours of these
I like the colours of these obviously 3D printed levers, but doesn’t the nature of the printing introduce weaknesses?
I’d be shocked and stunned if
I’d be shocked and stunned if they were that strong given the coarse and rough quality and the fact they are obviously 3D printed. Plus they are too wide to easily get the second lever under a tight tyre.
Only dumb people buy stuff
Only dumb people buy stuff from AliExpress or Temu….
Best tire levers are the Pedros ones.
Only a retarded spanner
Only a retarded spanner monkey would use Pedros…
If you’re going to get your knickers in a twist over tyre levers at least make an effort with your insult
Perhaps you should heed your
Perhaps you should heed your own advice. The one you’ve gone for is not only not very inventive, but also highly offensive – I’d change it for something else if I was you.
I’m cool. I asked a question,
I’m cool. I asked a question, someone’s response was an insult and I asked them to up their game as their insult was weak.
As for highly offensive, as a spanner monkey isn’t a thing who is offended? Is it just the sight of the word retarded that offends? As a person with autism it doesn’t cause me any offence and I use it in relation to myself because, like the word queer, taking back the meaning of a word disempowers those who use such words as insults.
billymansell wrote:
As a person who works for a learning disability charity, I can tell you that the r word is highly offensive. Please don’t use it.
But it’s not being used in
But it’s not being used in relation to LD. It’s being used of a fictional character, please don’t choose to be offended by it by taking it out of context. If we go down the road of proscribing every word we choose to be offended by by taking them out of context then the dictionary is going to be a very slim volume.
Also, dumb and retarded are synonyms. I was labelling a fictional character but where is the offence with actual people – buyers from Aliexpress – being called dumb?
My original reply was to highlight the use of dumb as an offensive term, equal to retarded as a synonym, but from the replies there’s clearly a perception that some offensive words are okay whilst their synonyms aren’t.
Prejudice or cognitive bias, it’s interesting from the replies that people weren’t offended by the word used to describe people without a voice.
Anyway, thanks for the replies, it’s been interesting.
billymansell wrote:
So if you create a fictional character and then use the N-word to describe them, nobody should be offended and if they were it would only be because they were choosing to be offended by taking it out of context?
Dumb and retarded are not synonyms, if you call somebody dumb you are saying they are stupid, it’s offensive but nowhere near as offensive as saying somebody is retarded which refers to a person suffering an actual learning disability. The words may have become synonymous in yours and other people’s minds but that doesn’t actually change their meaning.
It’s quite amusing that you have used retarded as an insult but then tried to turn it round on other people and say it’s actually they who have a problem, but it just hasn’t worked linguistically or logically. Sometimes when you’re in a hole it’s best to stop digging.
billymansell wrote:
As I understand it, the only appropriate use of “retarded” is in relation to timing (e.g. retarded ignition timing). Using it to refer to people is the offensive bit, even when the people may be fictional due to the history of the usage of the word.
“Dumb” may be offensive to some people, but it’s less offensive than it used to be. The issue was when its usage was linked to mute people and also meaning “stupid”, but nowadays it’s very rarely used in that context (which would be considered offensive), so it’s now lost that baggage and mainly just means “stupid”.
(As an AliExpress customer myself, I don’t have a problem with you calling me “dumb”)
billymansell wrote:
Educate yourself a little https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/bullying/words-matter
Only on Road.cc would we see
Only on Road.cc would we see a rage war in the comments regarding tyre levers. I personally stand by my Parktools ones, I’ve had for 15 years+ and have served me well (including in the past on Marathon plus). Fight me.
Ha – fool! Never bring a tyre
Ha – fool! Never bring a tyre lever to a bead pliers fight!
The reigning World Champion
The reigning World Champion is the Kool Stop Tyre Bead Jack for installing tyres. For removal, Muc Off and Pedros.
All variants of tyre gliders probably weaken tyre beads.
Hi All, I’m the creator of
Hi All, I’m the creator of the Better Bike Lever! 3D printing gives us access to advanced materials (the latest levers are made with carbon fibre reinforced PETG) and I’ve done comparative strength testing which proves that they are some of the strongest plastic tyre levers available.
The levers work together in a unique way for added strength then transform into a plier-type reseating tool. Please check out this 90 second demo: https://youtu.be/PmzOn1KMxfU
Another nice feature of printing the levers individually is that we can easily add personalisation, e.g. tyre levers with your name on!
I make mine from used
I make mine from used lollipop sticks and sticky back plastic. The only problem is they don’t work. But they are cheap and I can stick my name on.
Thank you for your comment.
Thank you for your comment.
Good luck with your innovative product.
I hope it’s a great review.
Cyclists – tired of paying
Cyclists – tired of paying extra to have your name on cycle products? Simply change your name by deed poll to “Si Mano”, “Yul Tegra”, “B. Ianchi”, “Conn Tinental”, “Pedro Park Tool” etc. – hey presto, you now own custom bike parts / tools!