I am jazz guitarist and luthier and my hands are pretty strong for a someone with no muscles, but I have always been able to mount tires by hand. I have had some real difficult ones and right now I have been using Conti GPii 2 4000. I can get by hand but they can be difficult. I suggest mounting them pumping up a few times to maybe 140 psi and then take off and remount. Do it a few times and I bet they will work ok, but a kool stop tire lever is supposed to be the best.