Compared to usual 3 hours of struggling you hear about, it wasn’t so bad! lol
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I’ve found the latest generation of Schwalbe Tire Levers (#1847) to be a godsend for mounting the 5000 TL by myself. The levers have a feature that allows them to be clipped onto the rim bead so an additional person or straps are not required.
I mounted a set on my November rgc36 CF wheels a couple of weeks ago and once I figured out the technique it only took a few minutes and was actually easy. The photo below shows how they work. Install the second side bead as far as possible by hand and then clip in a lever on each side. For the lever used to lift the bead over the rim only insert it at the position shown in the photo. Then slide it over next to one of the clipped in levers before gently lifting the bead over the rim. Then slide the clipped lever up. Repeat, alternating sides until the tire is fitted. If you lift in the center as shown in the photo it would break the lever, wheel or both. I was impressed that something this simple worked as well as it did. I have a Kool Stop also but found I didn’t even need it using this technique.
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Just checked my 5000 TL’s. It clearly states on the sidewall, “Mount Only On Hooked Rims”
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Safety issue. Go here:
under Downloads there is a pdf “Warning notice tyre-rim combination”
this too.
Thanks @SamApo 
Excellent - very helpful - thanks 
Maybe its my technique but I have damaged the rim tape when using a tire lever to mount a tire. I normally use Pedros levers and when I lifted the bead over the rim the end of the lever appears to have damaged the tape.
Do you think this is a technique issue?
Skipped to the end here to say that since my LBS didn’t have my regular Schwalbes, I reluctantly tried GP5000 TL on my Powertap Amp 35s (NOT tubeless compatible per mfr’s recommendations). I’m happy they fit super tight; they inflate easily and the beads seat snugly. Never burped the Schwalbes, which I’ve been riding for a few years, but they were hell to seal around the bead. The Contis make me much more comfortable with my bodge.
I have fought a few GP5000 battles, well documented in this thread, recently achieving a PR of 15 minutes using all known tricks including heat/soap/two levers+kool-stop bead jack, hollowed out valve core adapter for max air… Have also had some struggles with Panaracers Evo A tubeless + IRC formula pro x-guards across Reynolds Assault, Ultegra 6800, and Hunt aero race wide wheels.
Today, my life changed for the better. Got some new Reynolds Black Label Aero 65 wheels on a half off sale -
Under 5 minutes per wheel for install + bead set, completely bare handed, no soap, no levers, no bead jack, and first air shot from tank popped them right in.
I didn’t believe this was possible with tubeless. I really couldn’t quite believe that occasional “what’s the big deal, I did my GP5000TLs by hand” post on here. But it’s true. To be fair, I had read in advance that this wheelset is a “friendly” combination, and even saw a video online of a guy doing it on this wheel by hand. As many have said, clearly depends on the wheel. And the GP5000TL is particularly picky, but it does not have to be a 100% nightmare. And they really are great tires.
I had been thinking for a while about trying a wider rim/wheel that would be a better aero pairing with 25 mm tubeless as they bulge slightly wider than the rim on my 17/25 mm assaults as they age. Had been thinking about the newer AR series at 19/27mm, but when these went on sale for even less, with 19/28mm width, i9 hubs, and the benefits of a hooked TL rim, figured it was a no-brainer to take the plunge. Letting them sit with sealant tonight and hopefully first ride tomorrow!
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This is interesting; is it a reasonable conclusion to draw that wheels with a wider internal width appear easier to mount GP5000TLs on then?
I suspect it may help on getting the second bead over in that the wider center well has more room for both beads, whereas on my assaults, the first bead would pretty much completely occupy the narrower deep center.
But I never even got the first bead over the rim without tools on my assaults, so there has to be something related to the maximum diameter spec / tolerance as well.
I am actually thinking rather than a tube, I will keep a tire patch / cement kit in my bag. In the case of a severe cut that plugs couldn’t solve, these would be completely reasonable to take off, clean up and patch roadside. Weight and bulk is a lot less than tube + boot and likely a better fix.
In my experience (work at a shop), the wider the internal width, the more difficult it is to get it on. There is another factor here also. Some wheels have a deeper “well” on the inside. If the internal channel is deeper, then the tire is much easier to get on. I think a lot of wheel makers are going wider width/shallow internal channel because this makes seating the tire much easier, especially if you don’t have a compressor.
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And because there isn’t quite yet a tubeless standard that every manufacture is using, different manufacturers will have slightly different wheel circumferences. Just like different tires will. This is why I say when discussing what works in tubeless, you have to speak in wheel/tire combo. And not just say a tire by itself is a success or failure.
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Thanks for posting about the Schwalbe Tire Levers. On the strength of this, I picked some up from my LBS earlier in the week, and was able to get the Conti 5000 TL’s on in just a few minutes. The ability to clip the lever onto the rim makes it easy to prevent the tire from coming off the rim on the other side. The ease of this has made me confident that I could crack the bead on the roadside and install an emergency tube and get rolling again in the event of a sidewall tear.
The only downside to these levers is they aren’t really stiff enough to act as a lever. So my saddle bag kit now consists of 2 Schwalbe’s to act as clips on each end, and 1 Pedros to act as a lever.
Tomorrow’s task is to use a mate’s air compressor to seat the beads.
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Wow - just had a go at fitting the non TL versions with new inner tubes to my winter wheels; the final step in rebuilding my bike after my recent crash.
Went on easily by hand for my Shimano super-sturdy rear wheel.
My ‘Hope’ front wheel was a complete bas***d. Took ages to wriggle it on using three plastic tyre levers and a lot of foul language 
To the naked eye both rims seem pretty much the same being fairly standard aluminium items with similar depth profiles. Closer inspection reveals the Shimano (being older) is narrower, slightly shallower inside and has a slightly less aggressive edge to it.
Just goes to show! 
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Well…I just spent an hour trying to get a GP5000tl on a rim.
IMO this is an unusable design. I like to think I at least halfway know my way around a bike. I’ve stripped and rebuilt bikes…I cant remember the last time I spent more than 5 minutes putting a tire on a rim.
Anyway…an hour later, I’ve got a raw broken blister on my thumb, 1 bead put on, and the second bead of the 1st tire not even remotely close to going on. I’ll try the hair dryer trick and get my wife and a third lever involved…after that I’m taking these to the shop, and then cutting them off the rim if I ever get a flat, and refusing to ever use tubeless on the road under any circumstances. The only way these make any kind of sense is if they just do not go flat at ALL. Because there is zero chance of getting these off and putting a tube in during a ride…
Christ tubulars seem far more practical…
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sucks. What blew my mind was flatting in October while temps were still in upper 80s, removing the 5k-TL roadside and inserting a tube, and then a couple days later in my garage was unable to mount the tire (temps were lower). Really lost all confidence in the 5k-TL unless I carry the Kool Stop Tire Jack Bead tool with me.
I am now taking the opinion that if a tire cannot go on a rim, the tire is a failure. This tubeless thing seems like a bunch of crap. It shouldnt be, because I dont see any reason it shouldnt work. But it appears that bike companies have been half assing this as an industry and just shoving the broken components off on consumers to figure out. Just got a set of GP5000TLs…cant grt them on my rims. Will never ever try road tubeless again. Crap tire.
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I was expecting the absolute worst but I managed to get them onto my Easton R90 SL rims with no issues. I got them both on in less then 10 minutes using 2 tire levers. I then realized that the tires were directional and I had managed to mount both backwards. The 2nd time I was able to mount one of them using just my hands. However getting them to seat was the worst, I ended up putting tubes in them overnight and that helped but it still probably took 2 hours to get both seated
Lol. That about how mounting my donnely pdx cross tires on HUNT rims went. They slipped right on with hands easily, and mounted up with a floor pump. Were a bit burp prone through, so added a couple layers of gorilla tape over the tubeless rim tape. Got them on with my hands again…barely. And voila…mounted again with the floor pump. Took maybe 15 minutes to set up.
The GP5000s on the other hand are a lost cause at this point…