One nice thing is that if you’re going ghetto tubeless, the fear of them blowing off is minimized. I have 2017 Mavic Ksyrium Elites that AFAIK are not “tubeless ready”. They do have a considerable hook on the rim (I scribed it to see), so I figured I’d give it a try. The 5000’s were a PITA to get on. Put in 1.5 oz of sealant, then pumped to 120 psi, and no blowing off the rim. Deflated to ~90psi, and rode without problems. Still sitting at a psi of about 90.
Can definitely agree on the tight fitting GP5000TL’s. Took me about an hour and 3 levers to install mine to Enve 5.6 disc rims but once on they literally went tubeless and sealed super easy! Well worth the struggle as they’re great tyres
First time mounting my GP5000TL’s with tubes (not yet tubeless) on Cannondale Maddux CX2.0 rims was terrible. I was only able to wrestle one on and went to the bike shop to have him show me how to get the 2nd one on. Now things are much better.
Don’t skimp on preparation, use every trick you can think of. Baby powder helps things slide around. Make sure the bead that is already all the way on is off to the side, and the bead that you’re installing second is as much in the center channel as possible. Push the tube valve up into the tire. Put the wheel on your thighs and pull the tire onto the rim with your palms. You will never be able to push the bead onto the rim with your thumbs, you have to pull and get that mechanical advantage with a rolling motion. Anytime I use levers to wrestle a tire on, I typically just put a hole in the tube so you have to restart the entire process over again, it’s not worth it. Wear thick leather gardening gloves or something similar as you’ll be able to apply a lot more pulling force than what your skin would typically allow. Save your skin for roadside repairs!
All that said, I’ve mounted them on the Maddux rims, Zipp 30 Course, Zipp 303’s, all have been MUCH easier than the first time. I definitely know what I’m doing now, but I don’t doubt it if they loosened up a bit. Roadside repairs are no problem at all now.
Also, my GP5000TL beads seated on Zipp 303’s with only a track pump, soapy water, and removing the valve cores. I don’t have a compressor or chamber so I was stoked that the tight fit makes tubeless inflation easier
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I’ve had mixed experiences with GP5000 TLs. I’ve mounted multiple sets over the past year to a set of Hunt Aero30s, as well as to a set of Reynolds Assault LTEs. I’ve mounted both 25mm and 28mm versions.
In both cases, the tires are super tight, but I found that I really had to adjust my technique. I used to use a tire lever to lift up a section of tire that seemed ‘normal’ but with GP5000 TLs, I found that I had to firmly hold one side, while very gently and incrementally using a lever on the other side. Truly, I would lift the tire in a wiggling-like fashion, moving a ~2mm at a time to get the tire on. I don’t know if that makes sense, but hopefully it does. My tire lever is literally up against the leading edge of exposed bead as I carefully wiggle/lift.
I have found that the feeling of the bead on a GP5000 TL is pretty soft/supple and thus it’s really hard to hold firmly the opposite exposed side. It can easily slide/slip as you continue to lift the bead into place.
Hope this helps!
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Has anyone put these on Roval wheels? (Specifically the CL 50’s)
Absolute mare and I’ve been around the block a few times. Was genuinely checking tyre size. Like Colin, the Kool Stop thingy was the answer. I guess heating + loads of soapy water might have helped. Will try on the front tyre… Does seem ridiculous though that even bike shops struggle with these things. Need a tyre pre-stretcher.
Set a pair of these up on giant rims this weekend. No tyre levers needed, but required a recovery day after to let the thumbs recover! +1 on the tip to use a hairdryer, seemed to help a lot.
Major PR yesterday - installed a new GP5000TL in 15 minutes on a Reynolds Assault SLG! My 4th one. Once again, wore the old one down to threads barely showing in about 10 spots with no failures, easily 2-3k miles.
Applied most of the usual tricks plus one new approach…
Left the tire on car dash for an hour ahead of time. Still needed two tire levers plus the Kool stop bead jack, and a little soap at the end of the second bead to slip it over. Following by a wipe of soap to seat the beads using air tank at 100psi with a modified stemless presta fitting to get enough airflow quickly.
The real problem here I think is that the inner channel is just not wide enough to fit both beads. And the first bead occupies that channel as soon as you snap it over, and does not want to move out of that channel (until you hit it with the 100 psi blast of air to seat the whole tire) so it’s very hard to get the second bead on. Not as simple as just “move the first bead out of the way” - it is just way too tight. So after applying a lot of tension to the second bead near the end with levers, I went back and kept pulling the first bead working from opposite end of levers, trying to lift it up in hopes that the higher tension on the second bead from the levers would help it take over the channel and push the first bead out. Not really sure how much that helped, but I was able to get it on with the tire jack keeping one lever pinned with foot, another with right hand, and tire jack with left in just a few minutes.
I’d be curious to see how much easier it may be on newer rims with wider inside channels that may have more room for both beads to squeeze in. Mine are 25 external, 17 internal.
Also rotated the well used front tire to the back and it was easier, but not easy. I still resorted to tire jack, but it was quick.
I’m at the point where I see no reason to carry a tube and will just keep a variety of plugs and a tire repair kit. I cant imagine this level of muscling a tire on without pinching a tube in the process. I’ve not had a flat in 20k miles of tubeless, half on GP5000s, but when I do, it’s going to be dynaplugs first, inside patch if I can get the tire off followed by CO2 to reseat, or Uber if all else fails. It’s worth the trade-off for me at this point as I used to flat every 2k miles and the ride quality sucked in comparison.
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Transferred my set from the Parcours to a set of Prime Baradour. Came off and went on like a dream, seated and sealed with a regular track pump. Another lucky combo 
How do the regular GP 5000 complare to the TL ones as far as tight fitting goes?
I’ve only tried the regular ones so far and they went on very easily without the need of tyre levers. Though this probably also depends on the wheel size and layout.
I had both, TL was harder to put on in my case
I was running GP 5000 on my November CF rims until last week when I installed a pair of GP 5000TL. The GP 5000 were about like all the other Conti tires I’ve installed. Somewhat snug but entirely doable by hand. The GP 5000TL on the other hand were way beyond what I could hand mount. I tried for about 20 minutes but it was pointless so I quit before my thumbs were shredded. But using levers and the proper technique was entirely painless and went quickly though. I even mounted, removed and remounted the rear tire so I could get the logo lined up just exactly perfectly with the valve stem.
I’m in the same boat. I just took of my 5kTLs to clean out the old latex buildup and it was a bear to get back on. I really don’t think that if I had a puncture that needed a tube that I could get the tire on with levers alone. I think I’ll just be leaving the tube at home at this point and if I have something happen it’s my cell phone to the rescue.
The one thing that makes me hesitate though is that if I were doing say an Ironman and had a flat that I couldn’t fix without a tube, would I really want to have my day end then and there without even giving it a shot? Thankfully I haven’t even had to practice but maybe I simulate a pit-stop at the end of a training ride one day to see if it’s even possible with a warm tire. Then at least I know for sure.
I tried to put a tube into a tubeless-puncture once. It was a disaster. The tube sticks to dried sealant bits and makes it hard to install and inflate without tearing the tube. The tube ended up puncturing. I still carry a tube in my saddle bag, but I keep thinking I shouldn’t bother. A co2/pump and a tire plug are the best recovery option, imo (and of course keeping your sealant topped up).
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Triathletes (I am one) worry so much about this it’s crazy. I spent so much time fretting about flats with my old tubular wheelset I was running latex sealant in them… no clue if it was ever needed, but damn, if you’ve got a good tubeless setup and you still tear a hole in a tire to where you require a tube (e.g. sealant and plugs don’t fix it) on an IM race course, I think I’d chalk that up to just not my day. It’d be a tough pill to swallow, and I am certain there are anecdotes out there of people who’ve had this type of thing happen, but the chances of it are far less than the amount of energy we (as a group) spend on plans to prevent it. We are just looking for every way to control the uncontrollable… hell I know one guy that runs solid tires because he’s so afraid of raceday flats.
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I fitted some GP5000 TLs (25mm) on my Hunt Aerolight Disc wheelset on the weekend. I did not find them any more difficult than the Schwalbe Pro Ones that I installed as my first tubeless tyres (got 7 months/7400km out of them). I found that I spent the most time on getting the first side of the tyre on. I did use the flat, wide plastic Pedro’s tyre levers to get the tyres on. Didn’t heat up the tyre or use any soap/talcum powder, etc… just took my time & worked the tyre, ensuring I kept positioning it into the middle of the rim.
As for when I’m riding, I stopped carrying tubes & co2 canisters after a couple of months into riding tubeless. I now only carry a mini-pump & a Dynaplug Race tool. this has helped me repair two punctures on on my Schwalbes. I figure that if the sealant & Dynaplug can’t repair the puncture, then I’m calling a cab or a friend to pick me up. The thought of trying to install a tube in a tyre full of sealant is a turn-off.
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Ok. I officially fit a 28mm gp5000 on my Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbon UST wheel.* On my first attempt, I spent nearly 3 hours trying and failed miserably. So much so, I had the tire back in the box ready to be returned to amazon. Two weeks later, plus some liquid courage, I managed to install it in less than 20 minutes! Of course, I needed my wife’s helping hand, an oven, 2 Pedro tire levers, and the Kool Stop Tire Bead Jack. Here’s how I did it:
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I set the oven to 250°F. Once it was preheated, I turned it off and warmed the tire in the middle rack for 6 minutes.
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As quickly as possible (the tire is super hot), I mounted it onto one side of the wheel. Before proceeding to the other side, I made sure that the bead was sitting in the center channel. Starting from opposite of stem valve, I slid the tire bed into the rim, simultaneously moving in both directions, coming together towards the valve.**
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Once the tire got too tight to fit, I inserted the tire levers at the two points where the bead was coming off of the rim. I held one lever, and my wife held the other. With my free hand, I used the Kool Stop Tire Bead Jack to slowly lift the tire on. My wife slowly slide the tire level inwards as I made progress lifting to prevent the bead from slipping out again.***
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And that’s it! I couldn’t believe how easy it was, but I think I wasn’t using the bead jack properly the first time, and you really need a helping hand to get this done. It’s worth noting that the tire didn’t sit perfectly at first, but it took air right away with a regular floor pump. So I inflated to 90psi, let it sit for 10-15 min, deflated, and repeat. By the 3rd time the tire was seated perfectly on the rim, and held all of the pressure overnight!
YMMV, but it is possible to do. It’s worth noting that on my first attempt, I tried using a blow dryer to heat the tire, but I waste your time, it heats unevenly and didn’t add any stretch. Also, even if you’re living in the desert, I don’t see how the sun could warm up the tire as well as the oven. Baking the tire in the oven made a night and day difference for me.
*I do not have the guts to try a 25mm tire, but I would love to hear that someone did it with a Mavic UST wheel. (I don’t care how hard it was on other wheels, Mavic UST is another level of torture!)
**A lot of people suggest not tightening the valve to get some extra space for the tire, I found it wasn’t necessary and had it tightened the entire time.
***On my first attempt, I tried using this jack alone, and only from the center of the tire thinking it would somehow lift the entire thing over the rim. It can’t, in fact I thought I was going to crack my rim doing so. This time, using it to slowly lift from one side and made steady progress getting it on. This made a world of difference, but having someone to slide the tire lever over to catch the progress made this install possible. I highly recommend buying this tool!
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I put Vittoria Corsa tubeless tires on without levers on three different rims, and it was easy.
Using two people, three tire levers, and a bead-jack is not “easy”. lol
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Question …
Does anyone know definitively whether or not the GP5000TL is compatible with the new Zipp 303-S hookless rim carbon disc brake wheels?
Failing this, my other ‘tyre of choice’ would be tubeless Schwalbe Pro-1s so same question.
Friend of mine has bought some of these wheels (using Zipp tyres) and he’s raving about how much of an improvement over his old wheels they are for such a (relatively) reasonable price.
Think of investing in some myself but cannot seem to find anything on the web that is definitively clear on this.
Thanks 