20+ years of treating patients has trashed my hands, especially my thumb joints (ironic, no?). I’ve found that a combination of the Schwalbe levers plus Slica’s super thin, super strong levers did the trick where nothing else helped.
I have gotten flats with GP5000TL+Hunt50’s. It was not pretty. I couldn’t get the bead to break and had to use a lever to pry the tire off the “bead shelf” or whatever it’s called. I’ve gone back to tubes, Eff tubeless road tires
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I’ve been riding (and struggling with) Contis for years. I’ve always dreaded getting a flat, as they’re so difficult to deal with.
Fast forward - I recently bought a new Tarmac SL7, and it had Pirelli P Zeros already installed. I’ve got Roval Rapide CLX50’s, so cant go tubeless. I flatted the other day, dreading what it would be like to change my tire, given all my past struggles with Conti tires. The Pirelli was THE easiest tire change I’ve ever done. My hands were spared, it took only minutes, and I will never go back to Contis.
How do the Pirellis seat/ hold air. The fit and forget of Contis is quite good but if the Pirelli’s are anywhere near close to that they’ll be my next choice 
I’ve not got a ton of time with them yet, so it’s hard to comment. No noticeable issues with air loss, and they’re so easy to set into my rims. I am particularly fond of how well they do in wet around corners - that’s been rather remarkable.
The convenience of not worrying about how difficult it’ll be to change my tire - priceless. I simply don’t have hours to mess around when I could be riding.
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My tubeless take:
I have punctures on clinchers so rare that I can’t imagine having tubeless tires helping me get them in any less frequency. And clinchers are so easy / fast to change road side that even if I had more punctures I wouldn’t mind.
So the only reason I want to try tubeless is rolling resistance / performance related.
However, if my tubeless tire choice is limited by what fits easily on my rims, then that means I’m unable to choose the highest performing tires possible anyway and good chance my clincher + latex combo is better rolling resistance anyway.
Ok, then choose a rim that fits the best tire? Welp, then you’re possibly sacrificing aero performance and other things that come with rim choice.
When we’re at a point where all tubeless tires are as easy as clincher tires to install on any wheelset, then I’ll jump.
I think you mean Roval Rapide CLX, because the CLX 50 are tubeless compatible. I’ve got the Rapide CLX and have put tube GP5000 on with a little thumb muscling, both 28c and 32c. Currently running GP5K on those wheels.
The GP5K S TR (30c) have a very stiff bead, seen that mentioned in more than one review (BikeRadar for example). Maybe with soapy water they will thumb on, but I’ve tried on a couple sets of wheels and had 2 young / strong guys at the LBS try without soapy water. None of us could muscle them on, and that was after leaving the tires in the sun for 2 days.
You’re exactly right! I brain farted, and added the “50,” from previous iterations of the Roval wheel offering.
My sentiments remain the same - never going to try to muscle a Conti on to these rims again :
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Just another tubeless mounting tip as I didn’t see it mentioned is using a 55 gallon trash can if you have access to one. I had a different set up that refused to to get on (even getting one side on was wicked hard.) Tried soap, heating the tire and friends help couldn’t get it. Brought it to my LBS and they rested the wheel on top of the 55 gallon trash can for even weight distribution, then, using the palms of the hands (not thumbs) with gloves used body weight to force that last little bit of the lip. Still not easy but got it on. I mounted the rear myself no issues with this method after the shop got the front.
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Green recycling bin for the install/uninstall win!
I just setup tubeless on new wheels yesterday and used the brown trash bin because the green bin was full.
CushCore had some good tips here:
that I always use, with or without inserts.
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WELL TEAM I GOT THEM ON
but I think I F’d up the rim tape from Thursday and Friday’s struggles because they don’t hold air. The success was a $6 hair dryer and soapy water.
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But this approach can get messy when you already have sealant in the tire. Some sealants can’t be injected via the valve (core removed).
I have 2 Hunt wheelsets and ride the Contis. Things have improved from several years ago. In the past I had to cut tires to get them off the rim. The newer Contis seem better but I can see how folks are struggeling. Just swapped a pair of 5000s from one Hunt wheelset to another. This was a battle. And suprisingly more difficult then the initial install.
However, for difficult cases I fix one side of the final tire/bead section with a strap. And make my way from the other side until I get the bead over the rim wall… Always works. And is a little bit easier than using those Schwalbe levers. I actually haven’t had very good experiences with these.
I’ve really appreciated this thread - lots of great advice for handling a notoriously difficult tire. It’s amazing to see how much folks are willing to struggle to get these one. And the techniques used are uncanny!
Which brings me to an important question:
Why? What makes this struggle worth it, when there are other viable options that arguably give the same, or at the very least, similar results? Is this a commitment to “this is how I’ve always done it,” or am I missing out on the true magic of Continental tires?
The aforementioned questions are perhaps rhetorical in nature, but they’re part of the thought process I went through before deciding to reclaim my time and reduce my stress (both in getting these on, and the dread I had on rides of getting a flat).
I love Contis and wanted to try the road tubeless experiment. Mine went on by hand with the usual tricks so, so far so good.
Fast forward 3 years and I’ve had zero flats (15k miles) and performance has been flawless. I’ve taken a few large hits on potholes that probably would have been a pinch flat without tubeless.
I’m ready to plug a flat if one comes along. I also have a tube and levers just in case but I’m well aware that I may be swearing at the side of the road some day and making some calls.
This tight fit issue is not a Conti exclusive. By far not. And things have become a little better. The 5000 is simply a robust but very fast rolling tire.
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I went tubeless in 2017 and recently went back to tubes. Here is why I prefer tubeless:
6 flats on the bike and my first car flat tire in 44 years of driving. And its not goat head season yet 
That is partly due to my choice of roads. I’ve also seen fewer flats running wider (tubeless) tires on the rear, so that’s what I’m doing going forward.
Conti tires are not magic, to me the GP 4000, GP 5000, and 5000 TL feel dead and harsh compared to more supple tires. But they roll fast and have slightly better puncture protection. The GP4000 and GP5000 tube tires are also relatively inexpensive compared to the more supple tires.
The GP 5000 S TR I bought were $90, and I see them regularly listed at $100. Its cheaper to buy a more supple tire, like Pirelli or Specialized or Schwalbe, with real-world rolling resistance on par with the S TR. The Conti inflexible wire bead is NOT WORTH the installation hassle in my opinion.
Its weird but before I went tubeless I didn’t think I had many p’tures but I have started commuting again on tubes and I seem to get a p’ture every third ride. With tubeless on my winter wheels touch wood I have never had a p’ture. The winter wheels need a service (the pawls are sticking I think) but they’re 5000tls on Prime wheels and loose hardly any air (they’ve been off the bike for 3 months and are still solid). So I might open the hubs up over the Easter weekend and use them next week.
I agree with that assessment though I never felt they were what I’d call harsh.
I tried some top of the line Michelin Pros and they were fine for a while but then I started getting flat after flat after they were a little worn. I tried some spendy Vittorias and while they almost felt like sew-ups, I got a flat every 500 miles on them.
Prior to trying tubeless, every flat I got (living in NM) was a tiny goat head pin prick that I’m sure would have self-sealed. I also had one pinch flat on a pothole. I’m sure every single flat during that period would have been prevented by tubeless.
I was buying the 5000 TL for $40-50/each before covid and supply chain issues happened. $90-100/each is insane for a tire.
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I bought a 32c GP 5000 (tube) for $56 a couple weeks ago. Its the tubeless GP5K S TR that’s so expensive.
After reading this thread it was bound to happen 
I had a good 2 up last night and got almost home when I stopped for a selfie.
I shouldn’t have. It meant I got stuck behind two joggers chatting away on the cycle path. No worries I thought I have a noisy free wheel and polite voice. They carried on chatting for quire a bit however before they noticed me trackstanding and calling out excuse me behind them. One beckoned the other to move closer too him but he carried on chatting. Eventually he obeyed his mate. The only problem the minute I started to go by he moved back to blocking the path and I put my rear wheel (a Hunt with a 5000TL) in to the long grass. Much to his amusement, “Oh you’ve got a blow out”. I think (at least I hope) he was genuinely stupid and not malicious. I probably could have used a tyre worm but as I was close enough to home I decided to fix it there; only to find something that was so imbedded is a screw driver couldn’t dislodge it and I had to use needle nose pliers. Try as I like though I couldn’t get the tyre to hold over 30-40psi so I took it off and swapped it for the 5000TL that was on my winter wheels. Not a fast job but working and reworking and using wide tyre levers in reverse got it done.
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