I bought a Tarmac SL7 this summer and it’s my first bike with deep dish aero wheels. I’ve been riding for 30 years and have changed and mounted lots of tires in that time. Trying to put a set of GP5000’s on these wheels (Roval Rapide CL) is ridiculously difficult and when I flatted out a few days ago I wasn’t able to fix it on the road because I couldn’t get the tire on.
Does anyone have recommendations for tires that are easy to get on aero wheels? I’m running standard clinchers and not tubeless.
With modern wheels, it is really important that when you mount the tire the bead is all the way in the center channel or you’re going to have a bad time. That being said the GP5000s are just plain hard to mount, particularly below 28mm width.
I’ve had good experiences with the Pirelli Pzero Velo in 28mm. They mount quite easily, are fairly durable, and ride quite well. They come in tubeless and non-tubeless versions as well, and you won’t have to refinance the house to buy a set.
@spessx you will have better luck if you look for tires that are NOT ‘tubeless ready’. Good news, such tires will probably cost you less than their ‘tubeless ready’ counterpart. For instance, on Amazon the 700c x 28 GP5000 clincher is priced at USD51. The 700c x 28 tubeless is priced at USD91.
Almost certainly, the ‘clincher’ GP5000 is going to be easier to get on your rim.
Veloflex corsa race, Vittoria corsa and Schwalbe Pro ones are all pretty easy to mount tubeless, I would imagine the regular versions to be even easier
A couple weeks ago I bought the Roval Rapide CLX for my Tarmac SL7. Great wheels. Only tires I had sitting around were the new 5000 S TR in 28c and the mechanic could have forced them on but he said “you won’t be able to get them back on if you have to fix a flat roadside.” I tried and he was right.
The shop sells the 5000, Pirelli, and Specialized. They said the Pirelli and Specialized tires fit without issues. I bought the S-Works Turbo tires in 28c and love them. So much better road feel.
Thanks for all of the responses. I was using the clincher version of the GP5000’s, not the tubeless version. They are impossible to to remount roadside.
I put one of the S-Works Turbos that I had laying around back on with little issue. The problem is that those flat pretty easy.
Every tire I’ve owned has flatted easy including the GP 4000 and 5000 TL. The tires that lasted the longest: 5000 TL in 32c (1800 miles) and 2017 S-Works Turbo (2000 miles) in 26c. Luck of the draw.
If you use tubes and you want easy to mount tires, it doesn’t get any easier than S-works turbo cotton. With latex tubes they are amazing. Vittoria Corsa G2 are also easy, but not as easy as turbo cottons.
Gotta chime in for Vittoria N.EXT. They’ll be a few watts faster than the Conti Four Seasons and they’ve been very durable for me, riding on crappy New England roads this spring. I’m running them tubeless with Orange Seal. There are a handful of punctures/cuts that I can easily see in my rear tire, yet I never lost pressure riding and lose maybe 2-3 psi over night.
I’m running Bontrager Aeolus Pro 51 wheels and can get these mounted mostly by hand with just a little tire lever persuasion at the very end.
Also an SL7/Roval user here - Went with Pirelli tires and have never looked back. Also, in 2 seasons I’ve never flatted with a Pirelli tire (knock on wood - now I’ll flat next week)
I just put new Conti 5000 tubed tires 28’s on my Roval Rapide CLX rims -Tarmac SL7. The trick is to make sure the bead is not on the the lip of the rim. Requires you check it 2x to be sure before rolling the last , hard as hell section over the rim. A bit of spit helped.
including the GP 4000 and 5000 TL. The tires that lasted the longest: 5000 TL in 32c (1800 miles) and 2017 S-Works Turbo (2000 miles) in 26c. Luck of the draw.