John E

Is it just me, or is anyone else unable to mount Continental GP 5000 tires on a vintage 700C rim? I can't even get the first bead over the edge of the rim. I bought these to replace an older set of Continental 4000s, which, though a tight fit, were doable. Rims are Campagnolos with 14mm inside width.

CV-6 

They are difficult to mount, as are many of the newer high zoot tires, Specialized Turbo Cotton for example. I know I have seen a list of rims that Grand Bois does not recommend their tires be mounted. It can be done with some work using a tire jack. And dang I can't believe I forgot that fact a few days ago (and three patch jobs) while trying to mount some of the aforementioned Specialized tires.

BTinNYC 

I made the mistake of buying tubeless ready GP5000s for my 650b project rims. They were so hard to mount that I'll pull them off and re-mount before riding them. If they're not easier the second time...it's replace or get a support car follower.

tiger1964 

Yeah, I've had trouble. I had a topic going here perhaps 2 years ago, the best advice was to lose the thick rim bands and use Caption tape to gain a tiny bit more room to shove the bead down into the center of the rim while mounting. Significant improvement so now I use that tape on all bikes. And I'm putting GP5000's on about everything.

icemilkcoffee 

The GP5000 is notorious for being hard to mount. You have to use a tire jack. My advice is to stock up on GP4000S II while you can still find them. They are easier to mount and softer riding than the 5000.

Rooney 

To echo what others have said, 5000s are generally a tight fit. If you're mounting a tubeless-ready version, use tubeless tape instead of other rim tapes, even if you're using tubes. A paper towel or rag provides extra grip when pushing the last bit of the second bead into the rim. I also find insulting the tire as I wrestle with it helps me... mentally.

bikingshearer 

FWIW, I have zero issues mounting Conti 5000s (or 4000s, for that matter) on Mavic Open Pro rims.

Mounting on old Gentleman rims? Yeah, that requires a tire jack, which I always carry with me now.

rccardr 

I also went to Capton/Kapton tape four or five years ago, much easier to mount tires and just as good as any other rim tape IMHO.
Impossible to mount some of these newer tires on really old, hookless rims, tho- I’m looking at you, Weinmann Concave.

dddd

Newer tires are sized for use on modern (wider, and with deeper center channel) rims.

I struggled to change tires while using Panaracer 700x45 "Smoke" knobbies on my MA2 rims back in the 90's, but was able to do it trailside using one plastic iron once I changed to Rox lightweight rim tape which was quite thin.

I am running a GP5000 25mm tire on the original front Campagnolo Lambda rim on my 1989 Klein, but I forget what tape that I put on there.
After some months, and at 80psi, the tire measures only 23.75mm wide on the narrow (i13mm) rim.
But the same tire measures bigger than 25mm on a contemporary i18mm rim.

I don't think you will find any remaining stock on the old GP4000 tires. Maybe the new 28mm tires will be about right on your rims though.

capt_velo

I spent about an hour last night just getting one GP 5000 on a Campy Zonda C17 wheel. It's tough.

Andrew_G 

I've not used Continental tires, but I similarly have great difficulty in mounting new Vittoria Corsa clincher tires on to my Mavic MA2 rims.


So, I now pre-stretch the tires: I first install new tires on to a set of newer wheels, and inflate the tires to 110 psi and leave them for three full days. The tire's kevlar bead stretches out a bit, and I can then install the tires on to my MA2 rims, using a VAR tire jack. (I first tried two days, but that was inadequate.)


Aftter a bit of on road use, the Vittoria tires seem to stretch out a bit more, and they become an easy hand-install.


You might try the same pre-stretching technique if you have a set of wheels with modern rims available.


Andrew G.

seagrade 

I have also had no trouble with GP5000s in 25 and 28 on Mavic Open Pros. Nor on Shamal Ultra C17s or H Plus Son TB14s.

Always* with a single layer Ritchey or Continental plastic rim tape and definitely not Tubeless Ready tyres.

As long as the bead is in the centre of the rim bed I seldom need a tyre lever.

*except on the Shamal C17s which need no rim tape, a quite brilliant innovation.

Kilroy1988 

My set of GP5000's went from a new pair of Mavic Ksyrium wheels and slipped right into a set of Araya rims from around 1980 without any extra hassle.

repechage

For all you guys who had no problems installing tires, may I introduce you to the ambrosio elite 19.

repechage

Some of these new tires are primarily designed for tubeless use, the bead is different in cross section, square exterior corners…

recently looked at a few videos of the bikes in use in the TdF, tubeless, tubulars, only one showing with a tube in the
‘open“ casing.
the riders are going wide, 28,30mm, due to the mod wide rims, some 28’s measure in at 29+mm

lasauge 

I put some on Wolber Super Champions a while back and don't recall it being particularly difficult.

dddd

If you mean the touring Model 58 rim, it would indeed be a no-tools operation.

Their Gentleman rim might be a different story based on my own experience.

malcala622 

It helped leaving the tires outin the sun to bake for about 30 minutes when I had to mount a set last year.

jamesdak 

I'm running them on a variety of new and old rims and haven't found them that tough. I'll warm up any tire I find tough to mount before I resort to my tire tool.

The last set went on some newer first gen Fulcrum Racing 0's and the last bit was tough. Overcome with some spit on the rim and strong thumbs. These rims are like 15mm internal with no deep center channel. So nowhere to push the bead to get me so looseness for the final bead set over the rim.

Bad Lag

You've mentioned "Capton" tape several times.

Is "Capton" a brand name or do you refer to "Kapton" tape.

Kapton is a brand name for a polyimide film. I've never before heard of Capton and a quick search yielded nothing..

John E

I am going to try that right now.

Classtime 

I put a pair of new GP5000s on a 95 Cannondale with Wolber somethings and they went on like a new pair of GP4000s--tight but I'm sure they will stretch. (I have recently made a bad decision by reusing a pair of Matrix rims on a new wheel build. I should have cut those wheels into little pieces. Nothing fits on them.)

RiddleOfSteel

Sounds like what I've experienced. MA2/MA40s, especially with traditional Velox tape, make tire mounting varying degrees of difficult. I'm full Kapton tape on everything now. Two layers does it. 5/8" wide serves me well. Continental tires are also almost always snug, and Vittoria Corsas can be as well, though more amenable to sliding over a rim. I am not opposed to using tire levers, and for any of these, I've used only a single lever and that gets the job done. I've had to use three before--Campagnolo Atlanta 1996 rims were diabolical. I have a new pair of GP5000s in 32mm and they measure quite close to GP4000S II 28s. Go figure.

tiger1964 

Clever. I wonder if I can fit a 700C wheel in the chest freezer as well?

Jeff Neese

I've got a couple sets on vintage rims - one is an old set of Matrix from '91, and the other is Ukai from '86. It's been a while but I don't remember having any particular challenge mounting either set.