A while back I reviewed a new tire lever called the Tyre Monkey. However I became aware of a competing product called the Tyre Glider that made similar claims.
At any rate, I had a flat a few days ago, and this was the ideal time to review the Tyre Glider. Unlike the Tyre Monkey it doesn’t look anything like a regular tire lever.
Here are the two products side by side.
Here is the Tyre Glider in position to remount the tire.
What I found was that the Tyre Glider was very useful during remounting the tire. This particular tire/rim combination was really tight, and the remounting was not possible without tools. I would say that the Glider is better than the Monkey in this regard. This blog post from this past April comes to more or less the same conclusion, although it should be noted that it is written by the company that produces the Tyre Glider.
For either tool, I would still recommend carrying a single regular tire lever in addition as well. Neither is any better than a regular tire lever as far as dismounting a tight bead is concerned. Your own experience with your particular rim/tire combination will tell you if either tool is necessary in place of regular tire levers.
I’m also not aware of any local shops that carry either product.
Of course, there are traditionalists that insist on regular tire levers. Of these, my favourite are Pedros. Nice and wide which helps, and they come in a choice of colours that can match both my pink and orange bikes.
You might also notice in the background of the above photo that I was replacing a TPU tube. My experience with these has been mixed, and given that they are quite expensive, I’d say the main reason to use them is to have a very compact spare. I’ve used both Aerothan and Tubolito types, and I can’t say that either is less flat prone than a regular butyl tube. YMMV.
I bought 2 Tyre Monkeys because of their claims… didn’t work well for me…even when trying to mount a mtn bike tire… didn’t even try with a racer tire. This Tyre Glider seems better as you can use your palm to push it.