I think the difference may be something other then the tires although I think they are harder to put on then some others due to being an incredibly stiff tire with a stiff bead.
On my A319 Mavics somehow there is 12" of tire that I can't get on by hand. I need to get out the hand soap to make the tire slick and two tire levers to sqeeze it on very very slowly and firmly. The tires that came with the bike I used tire levers to get on also but I probably could have struggled and put those on just by hand.
I thought it was just me for a while but when I got my new rims the bike store said they'd swap the tires for me. Following alot of swearing and many many minutes they came out still grumbling about my damn tires. *shrug*
Mavics A319 (the rims I have which are a pain)
Velocity Synergy (the rims willawry'd put them on without levers)
