Best Rest TireIron BeadBrakR Review

This article was originally featured in the September 2017 print edition of Dirt Rider

Rear tires, especially ADV tires, become notoriously adhered to the rim. Breaking this bead with tire irons sized to carry on the bike is often impossible, turning a simple tube install or swap into an epic endeavor. The common trick of using a sidestand to break the bead is difficult when solo and can result in bent sidestands and, worse, broken wheel components.

The TireIron BeadBrakR combines three 8.5-inch steel, zinc-coated tire irons with a compact assembly to simultaneously clamp the tire, multiply leverage, and direct the resultant force in the most effective direction to push the tire bead from the rim. The assembly is constructed from laser-cut stainless steel, and everything is connected via five tethered ring pins. When broken down, all the components measure 12 x 5.5 x 2 inches and weigh 3.1 pounds. A valve stem multi-tool is included; it removes valve cores, deflates the tire, and fishes the tube valve stem back out through the rim. Finishing the kit out is a small bottle of bead lubricant, detailed instructions, and a Cordura storage pouch.

On both tubed and tubeless tires, the assembled BeadBrakR successfully disengaged the bead from the rim on the first try. The force generated belies the compact nature of the tool's components. Holding the individual components are deceiving; when assembled and the technique mastered, the force needed is minimal compared to (if it is possible at all) only using tire irons. The tire irons seem small compared to shop tools but surprisingly worked fine even on burly rear ADV tires, as long as small "bites" of the bead were used.

The TireIron BeadBrakR is an essential piece of kit for the adventure bike rider. Compact, relatively light, and fully functional, this tool can hide unnoticed in your bag until it possibly saves your adventure.