If you are new to cycling and haven’t found the right tire lever yet, let me save you the trouble…

The Pedro’s tire levers are hands down the best tire lever available. You don’t need to know anything else, but if you insist, I’ll continue my review…

With any tire lever, you want it to be easy to use, which means it must be comfortable in your hand, and it must be strong enough that it won’t break when you need it.

These Pedro’s tire levers give you all that and more.

First, they’re pretty big and ergonomically shaped, so they’re comfortable in your hand. That’s very important if you have to change tires often.

But the tip is still pretty thin, making it easy to slide it under the tire bead. Some levers are too fat to fit between the tire and rim, making them completely useless.

The Pedro’s levers are also super strong – I’ve never broken one! I’ve used them on the tight Neuvation M28 Aero3 wheels and some super-tight BMX rim/tire combos, and somehow they do the job while other levers bend and snap.

Last but not least, they are bright yellow. So whenever you drop one on the side of the road or trail, it will be easy to find!

You may be wondering if it’s a downside getting two levers instead of three, like some other manufacturers package together. Well, when you have a good tire lever and a little bit of skill, you only need one lever to do the job! They’re so good, I keep one in my seat bag and one in my workshop.

My final verdict is…

If you only have one set of tire levers, it should be these Pedro’s tire levers. These are the standard by which all other tire levers should be judged!

Get some, you won’t regret it.

Official website: www.pedros.com

Buy online: www.PerformanceBike.com or www.JensonUSA.com

Let’s face it – seatbags aren’t about looks, but about carrying the basic necessities with us while riding. Since hanging one on your bicycle is an eyesore anyway, why not help the environment and use a bag made of recycled materials?

That’s the reasoning I used when I first purchased a Pedro’s Blowout Bag, a seatbag made partially with recycled bicycle inner tubes. The mix of canvas and rubber actually looks pretty cool, though.

Does it work? Let’s find out…

Storage Capacity

The Pedro’s Blowout bag comes in two sizes, 35 or 50 cubic inch capacities. I decided to get the large size.

I usually carry a 700c tube wrapped in a rag, a CO2 inflator, extra CO2 cartridge, and a tire lever, and there is plenty of room left over. At times (usually when I hook it to my mountain bike) I have also carried a mini-tool in there with no problem.

So I can carry plenty of stuff, which gets me through most normal road rides, up to 5-6 hours. For longer rides and multi-day epics, you’ll want to find more ways to carry stuff, because you probably can’t even fit two tubes in this bag.

Ease of Use

I rarely touch my seatbag once it’s loaded up and attached to my bike, so ease of use was never a big deal, but it’s still a consideration…

The Blowout bag is setup with a typical velcro strap for the seatpost and nylon straps that loop through the seat rails (and are cinched down with a plastic clip.) This combo holds everything steady and I really like it.

There is also a reflective strip on the back, which doubles as a place to clip on a blinky light for extra safety in low light conditions.

The big gripe I have here is with the zipper, which runs horizontally along the bag. If you want to open the bag, you have to loosen the straps before you can open the zipper. (I have seen some bags where just the back zips open, making for easy access.)

Durability

I’ve been using the Blowout Bag for so many years that I kind of forgot about it and didn’t notice how it really looked.

This is actually my second Blowout Bag. I had my first one for about two years before it was stolen, and I used this one for about three years. It’s still hanging on for dear life, but barely.

Unfortunately, the rubber has begun to crack from being out in the sun for so many years, and it is split in some places. It’s not totally falling apart yet, but bags with holes in them don’t do much good.

The cracked rubber also makes the bag look like crap, so if you’re concerned with looks, this bag is not a good choice.

My even bigger complaint comes from the canvas material, though. When I cinch the straps down so the bag is tight against the seat (so it doesn’t rock back and forth,) the seat clamp bolt ripped a small hole into the top of the bag!

That happened to my first Blowout bag, and the only reason I bought another was because Pedro’s made an update. Newer bags have an extra canvas patch on top, right where my first bag got a hole.

So they have fixed that problem. If you get one of these now, you shouldn’t have a problem with that exact spot… Unfortunately, my new bag still got a hole off to the side of the reinforcement patch!

My final verdict is…

This bag seems great at first, and it attaches securely to your bike with quality straps and Velcro. But it is hard to access the bag’s contents once it is installed. It will also rip apart fairly easily.

For these reasons I have decided to quit using the Pedro’s Blowout bags, and if you’re looking for a seatbag that will last more than one summer before ripping, you should look for something else, too.

Official website: www.pedros.com

Buy online: www.JensonUSA.com