Benv wrote:
Update - I set up my Hed Jet Plus wheels with Continental GP5000 TL tires this weekend. So, spoiler alert, I got it done in the end. But, it was a total pain in the ass and my hands are all sore from trying to get these tires over the rims.
There are two big problems trying to mount them; first the tire is extraordinarily tight and the forces needed pull a bead over the rim are impossible to overcome without various tools. Secondly the tire slips over the rim so easily that as soon as you're working from one side to force it over a rim it'll move and undo itself on the opposite end. Say you pull the tire over the rim as far as you can, then with any other tire if you were to use tire levers or the Koolstop tire jack you'd have enough friction on the ends of the section that isn't mounted yet, that you can stretch the tire with tools and pull it over the rim without it undoing itself. But because this one is so slippery, one of the ends will start to move and undo already mounted tire sections. Those two things combined make this a total bitch to mount.
In order to prevent this slippage at the ends I decided to use zip ties to tighten a section of mounted tire agains the rim, so to force hold it tight to make slippage more difficult. Not at all perfect but it helped. In combination with a tire lever in one hand and the tire jack in the other hand I eventually got the tire mounted but it always took many tries and close to an hour per tire.
Once mounted, the tire is so tight both beads are in the middle channel of the rim and they'll prevent easy installation of the valve stem. Tightening it causes the bead to get pinched underneath resulting in a leak and the inability to inflate it. This took me quite a few attempts of trying to inflate it with a compressor, then trying to get the valve to be tightened enough without pinching, inflating again, etc. If I didn't have a compressor, no way I'd eventually gotten the tire installed.
If these wheels would be for training I would say it's not worth it trying to set them up with GP5000TL; they simply can not be fixed in the field. But since I'm using them for crit racing it should be OK. Planning to ride them on the road this week in sort crit type training ride to check everything is working fine. But damn installation was no fun.
I'm a tubeless convert and love the Conti GP5000TL tires......but your scenario would make me stick to tubes and a regular tire that is easier to mount. No way I'm getting stuck out in the middle of the boonies unable to fix a flat.
Maybe I'm still hanging onto old school mentality, but I still carry a spare tube and air for that just in case. Maybe running tubeless I should just be good carrying some air and a Tubeless Tire Plug tool and anything worse....just call home for a ride.
fyi........I thought the Schawalbe Pro Ones and Conti 5000TL were about equal to install/remove.