Yes I'm bumping an old thread in case others have experienced this. I recently got my hands on the new Pirelli P Zero Race TLR with their new "Speedcore" and "SmartEVO" compound. It reviewed very well on Bicycle Rolling Resistance.
Today I sat down during the F1 race to put them on and could not get them on the wheels. I own a couple of the tools mentioned in this thread after my last experience with the GP5k (the tools helped but still tough with the TL version). No amount of trying could get the Pirelli tires on the wheel. So I called a buddy, while I've changed dozens of tires, he's changed hundreds. He came over and also couldn't get them on the wheels. 26x700 size, pretty infuriating that these new tires are damn near impossible to mount. I can't imagine having to change these on the side of the road. I'm going by a local shop tomorrow to have them mount them, I'd like to compare how they ride but being this hard to mount, I won't be running them long-term. At least not on these wheels. Major disappointment.
Still can't find the Michelin's state side, may order them from Amazon and try them. I did just order a new GP5k Clincher to see if it's easier to mount,.