I read in a post somewhere on BF long ago when I was fighting with my first set of road tires on road rims (Conti ultrasports on cxp22 rims) where someone said, "don't ever use levers to get tires on, and don't try to use your thumbs. Use the heel of your hand instead."

I tried that a million ways and couldn't figure out why it was easier. And used tire levers to force the tires on.

Can't do that with my new painted rims. So sitting there pushing with my thumb and then pushing with the heel of my hand, I discovered what was meant by the above: push the edge of the bead with your thumb while you're rolling the rest of the tire forward, inching that little bit in with your thumb as you push with the heels of your hands. Most of the force is on the heels of your hands, and the little lip of the bead will slide over.

I'm so ecstatic about getting a pair of skinny tires on my rims in less than 15 minutes that I had to post about it. I'm sure if I was this dumb about this, someone as technically inept as I may appreciate the post.

Maybe it's just that kevlar bead tires are easier to get on. Or the mavic rims are wider or have a higher brake wall. Or I'm just that much tougher than I was last year. Probably the technique though.