Barfly, as its name suggests, produces a number of handlebar accessories, like GPS mounts, but this review showcases their two-in-one tire lever that doubles as a CO2 inflation device.
AirLever is the name, and it comes packaged with a second tire lever. The inflation head is aluminum and it simply pushes onto Presta valves to make a seal, while its rotating aluminum tip threads onto Schrader type valves.
It is doubtful that you'd ever break one of the
AirLever Details• Aluminum and reinforced plastic
• Fits threaded CO2 cartridges
• Comes with second tire lever
• Push-on Presta & screw-on Schrader head
• Twist to control gas flow
• Weight: 50 grams
• MSRP: $29.95 USD
• Contact:
Barfly sturdily-built reinforced plastic tire levers, but if you did, the business end of the AirLever can be separated by removing one screw to replace it. The two-piece AirLever kit retails for $29.95 USD on the web, and at better bike shops.
Features and Performance AirLever, used in its primary role, feels like a pro tire tool. The plastic levers fit the hand well and are tough enough to wrestle a tire on with a stubborn liner inside - a relatively new dilemma that most plastic levers made before 2017 were simply not designed to handle. It's also no secret that many riders have abandoned roomy hydration packs for limited on-bike storage options, so Barfly's compact, two-in-one tool is a timely invention. Even if you throw the levers in your pocket, they lie flat and are so lightweight that, most of the time, you'll hardly know they are there.
The AirLever kit weighs within a few grams of a pair of Clever tire tools and the inflation device in the right-hand image. If you need to leave the reservoir in place to save some gas for later, AirLever's awkward L-shape makes the trio on the right the more compact option.
AirLever as an inflation device is also easy to operate. Its twist-to-control gas metering was useful when I needed to save some gas to top off a suspect tire. I also liked the spin-on Schrader-valve feature, because I could also use it to add some spring pressure to my suspension in a pinch (Note: care must be taken, because CO2 pressure can reach 850psi). That said, the screw-on head lengthens the insertion distance needed to seal a Presta valve stem, and I've had similar devices come up short, trying in vain to seal against a stubby valve stem.
Pinkbike's Take: | Barfly's space-saving AirLever combo-tool is going to be well received. It's well made, utilitarian and simple - which is probably its most endearing quality. I only had one issue with it that cropped up when I needed to top off a tubeless tire that was seeping air. I wanted to save some gas to ensure I could re-inflate the tire once more, and was left with an awkward L-shaped device that was a poor fit in the pocket of my Troy Lee Shorts.—RC |
Riding with a compressed air canister in your pocket?! Rather you than me dude!
Be safer to keister it!!
Need something beefy and rounded like Pedro’s unless you want to make holes in the tubeless tape.
And the problem is?!?!