KOM Cycling Tire Levers and Sealant Injector: Quick Review – Guitar Ted
Here at Riding Gravel’s headquarters there are a lot of tires getting set up tubeless throughout the year. Lots of switching, sealant maintenance, and therefore, a lot of specialized tools for the job have been sourced to make things easier. KOM Cycling is a company that has some interesting tools which make doing the job of working with tubeless tires just that- a bit easier. They sent us a set of their tire levers, with an integrated valve core remover, and their sealant injector system. Let’s take a look.
What It Is: First off, let’s take a look at the Sealant Injector. The system comes in a box containing the injector, a short run of inflexible, smaller diameter hose with a special connector, a short run of larger diameter flexible hose with a similar connector, a petcock valve, and a small, black plastic valve core remover. Here is what KOM Cycling has to say about this particular product:
“Traditional tubeless sealant injectors go over the valve which causes sealant to gunk up the valve and not allow air into the tire. Our design allows for the syringe to go all of the way to the tire without clogging up the valve. “
So, that smaller diameter, inflexible tube goes down through the valve when the core is out, not letting sealant touch the inside of the valve, helping to prevent any chance of fouling the valve. The petcock valve, which I placed inline instead of at the injector, is there to allow you to draw up sealant and not have it leak back while you are transferring from your sealant container to the tire. The petcock valve can be “shut off” to prevent any sealant from coming out of the injector.
The Sealant Injector system is available on KOM Cycling’s site at a suggested $12.99USD
The Valve Core Tool and Tire Lever Combo is a neat little bundle for your tool kit on the bike. Consisting of two plastic, sturdy looking levers which nest together and a professional grade, anodized aluminum valve core remover, this has the look of certain other tools you may be familiar with. However; those other options don’t all nest together like this system does. Pretty handy looking deal here.
Again, these tools are available direct through KOM Cycling at a suggested retail of $9.99USD.
In Use: I put these tools to the test in my personal shop while swapping out tires recently on a set of carbon rims. It is important to note that carbon rims are pretty sensitive to the tire levers you might choose. Definitely do not use steel or aluminum here! Thankfully the plastic used to make the KOM Cycling levers was not abrasive, with all corners and transitions in the design being smooth and the lever itself is stiff. That’s also paramount for a good tire lever design.
The Sealant Injector worked very well for me also. Using Muc Off No-Puncture sealant, I was able to draw up the proper amount of sealant for my set up. I think it is important to note here that the injector syringe that KOM Cycling spec’ed here has a superior sealing piston than most injectors I have come across. So, this is good and maybe troublesome in that due to that great seal, there is a bit more effort involved in getting the plunger to move. A careful, steady, and strong hand is recommended. Otherwise the petcock idea was useful, and I thought that the system worked well. The idea of having the hose travel through the valve and not fix over it is really smart. The bonus here is that you could use this to check sealant level, and remove sealant, all without taking the tire partially off.
At The Finish: The KOM Cycling products seem to be well made and, in the shop, were a joy to use. The idea of having the petcock valve and the through-valve hose injector are upgrades over most other injector systems I have seen. The nice valve core removal tool which nests into the two tire levers has immediately taken over as my number one lever/core tool in my repair kit on the bike. They are shop grade tools in a travel sized/designed package. These are good tools to have if you are running tubeless or if you are looking for a smart set of levers and core removal tool.
You can find these items and more at KOM Cycling’s site: https://komcycling.com/
NOTE: KOM Cycling sent these items reviewed here for test and review at no charge to Riding Gravel. We were not paid, nor bribed, for this review and we strive to give our honest thoughts and opinions throughout.
Good job! Keep it up!