I don’t care that they aren't on offer, these $9 tyre levers are the only ones I'll buy, Prime Day or otherwise

Tubeless tyre tech has made punctures a lot less common – unless you’re like my colleague Tom who staunchly refuses to go tubeless on the road – but at some point in every cyclist’s life there comes a time when you’ll have to take a tyre off a rim, and for that you’ll need a pair of tyre levers. In fact, along with a spare inner tube, a mini pump, and a multi tool, it’s only of the few things you really should never leave the house for a ride without.

Given it's currently Amazon Prime Day (or days) you're probably searching for a sweet sweet discount on a set of levers for your bike. If that's you, I'm here to help. Last year I spent some time testing a load of different levers, putting them through their paces mounting some famously difficult tyres (Challenge Strada, Continental Gatorskins, and the older Continental GP5000), and on the whole most were pretty rubbish.

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Tubeless tyres and rims generally have a tighter fit, meaning the tyres are harder to get on and off, and so tyre levers have to be stronger than they used to be. The Muc-Off Rim Stix are the only levers I use now because they’re the only lever that has yet to let me down. I’ve bent the venerable Pedros out of shape pretty quickly on some, I’ve snapped many many others, and some are so flimsy you can bend them just by looking at them.

These Muc-Off ones are strong, have a sharp enough lever end to get right under stubborn tyres, and while they’re a little bigger than most that also means better leverage. They aren’t on offer, but they’re honestly the only levers I’ll ride with nowadays and I’ve spent my hard earned cash on them myself. It’s the same reason our buyer’s guide for the best tyre levers contains only one product, and it’s the reason I packed a seat when we tested road tyres in the lab; I swapped something like 35 tyres that day and they didn’t bat an eye.

Muc-Off Rim Stix Tyre Levers: £5.49 at Amazon

Given that these are so cheap I'd go so far as to say you'd be a fool to buy anything else. You can't buy these on Amazon in the States, however...

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Muc-Off Rim Stix Tyre Levers: $9 at Amazon

Incredibly, the only ones available at Amazon are priced incorrectly at $30+ (or you can buy a 24-pack of them at $124 but they never break so I'm not sure why you would!)

Luckily you can pick them up at Backcountry.com for $9, so there's no excuse.

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How much did they pay you to write this?

I can hear the comments section firing up as we speak… “This is clearly sponsored!!” I’m sure you’ll rage, but no, Muc-Off didn’t slip me a backhander to write this.

All I’ll say is this: They cost as little as £5 at full retail price. If I’m right (which I always am) you’ve spent a fiver on a very good set of levers that will handle the toughest tyre/rim combinations. If I’m wrong (I’m not) you’ve either only wasted five pounds, or you ignore me totally and get yourself a cheaper, flimsy set of levers that may snap or bend when you need them most.