Hi there Forum-ers, See attached,

can't figure out what this tool is....
I pulled this tool from a tools give away box at our local community bike shop. Any idea what it's used for? I tried it as a tire wrench, but it didn't work.... Is it me? Thanks in advance....

Tire tool I think.

Yes, it is a tire lever, Crank Brothers or something. I have it - not good.

Here it is: https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B0026LJTPI

A Quik Stik.

It is in my humble opinion the best tire tool ever invented - as long the tire bead isn't too tight against the rim channel and you can't get the lip under the bead. This tool's advantage is that it's designed to not only not pinch the tube during removal but to allow the user to quickly unseat the bead by pushing or pulling the tool around the rim circumference. When you do hundreds of tire changes per year, the time savings (and tube savings) is appreciated.

Alas, it has been discontinued by its maker. Some of us are hoarding curating collections of remaining ones, and re-grinding notches in ones that are inadvertently broken (it's very strong, and stronger than nearly all other plastic tire levers, but not infinitely strong).

I have one, great tool. You get it under the tire then pull it around the rim. Really works great.

Most levers will accomplish that and most will do a better job getting under the bead or doing anything else with the tire.

I agree with 2 i. I also have one and it's too fat to get under the bead of most tires, particularly road tires.

I agree also. All of my tire levers are the hard plastic with steel core. I estimate it is about 40% of the tire removals that I actually need a lever. I do not have deep rims or tubeless.

I've found that standard plastic levers won't slide along the bead easily - you have to repeatedly pry instead of sliding the lever. The narrow spoon of a standard plastic tire lever also has a higher risk of pinching the tube unless one is rather careful.

The issue regarding "tight" tires is a valid one. The Quik Stik lip is too fat for these, but these are a relatively small percentage of the tires I usually remove. For those tight tires, I'll carefully start the removal with one or two standard levers, then use the Quik Stik to complete the removal. Really tight tires are threatened with the J. A. Stein steel tire lever, which is probably stout enough for motorcycle tire use.

thanks for the replies. I'll give it another try, it seems indestructible and it's design seems to avoid pinches if used properly. Can't have enough tire levers in the kit. Thanks again.

by the way, here is the best lever ever invented, it changed my life

https://www.amazon.com/CRANKBROTHERs...s%2C150&sr=8-1

Quick Stiks are awesome, I still have a few. I'll add that if you like the Quick Stik, you'll probably also like the much newer CushCore tire levers (aka "bead dropper"), it's like a Quick Stik on roids. The CushCore lever is marketed to help with the sometimes difficult installation/removal of CushCore tire inserts (for tubeless tires), but the CushCore levers don't care if you're working with CushCore inserts or not, it's basically just an incredibly beefy, very ergonomic tire lever. Like the Quick Stik, it's not the best tire lever for every situation. And as tire levers go, the CushCore levers are crazy expensive. But at my bike shop, we do use them occasionally, and not just when working with CushCore inserts. They are a nice tool to have around IMO.

Prestacycle either picked up the patent, or copied it. It works well, if a bit short.

Life is so much easier when you fully deflate the tire. For Schrader unscrew the core. If you need to reach for a metal lever you are waay off track.

As is often the case, it looks like people in this discussion are treating the edge cases as the norm. In my experience, a Quik Stik works fine on 95% of the tire removals I encounter. Simply because I have a different tool that can persuade a difficult tire doesn't mean that it's used all that much.

That is a floor pump bezel spanner, almost impossible to turn without it...

Excellent.

A historical note, IIRC: the Quik-stik was originally marketed as a tool for putting tires back on the rim more than for removing them. The plastic material and shape prevented the cuts that metal levers often caused when used to pry a tire back onto the rim. They were advertised in Bicycling in the early '80s.

I think I might still have mine somewhere (green in color?). It's great for peeling MTB tire off after you have released the bead with a real tire lever but I didn't find it very useful for thinner tires, e.g. 700c & 27" wheels. We used in the shop I was working at during collage some 34 years ago and haven't touch it much after that (not much of a MTB rider). Didn't know it's not around anymore and was "marketed as a tool for putting tires back on the rim more than for removing them." I found it was a horrible tool for that.

I've used Quick-Sticks forever and they're fine where applicable, as in non-tight fitting tires, which is what this tool was designed for, well before tubeless tires were even a thing. As kcjc notes, they're excellent for swiftly spinning around the bead once it's broken. They will break a bead if the tire isn't too tight, otherwise a lever of some sort would work better in those cases. I don't buy tight fitting tires and sure as h-e-double-toothpicks I don't run tubeless, which would be an exercise in futility for myself.

Any tire loose enough for a Quik Stik to be used is a tire that requires no tools whatsoever to be used for removal or installation.

A question for someone who can show such confident certainty: how many hundreds (yes, hundreds) to tires do you remove and install each year?

You seem to think changing “hundreds” of tires is a lot.

Back in the day of the Quik Stik, I’d estimate close to 1,000 a year. For 10 years. These days, much fewer. But I still don’t need to use tire levers.

Are we supposed to applaud?

Sure, if you’re so moved. Might be a little weird doing it solo in your living room. Post a video!

I simply answered the man’s question.