I bought a new rear tire for my bike, a continental ultra sport, size 700x23. It was about impossible to install using tire levers. In fact, this was the first time I had to use levers since the 80's.
Im skidding with it as much as possible to give me an excuse to buy a new tire. I dont want to even try to remove/install it away from home with a flat.

they've been difficult for me also. not vittoria difficult, and not prohibitive to me using gatorskins, but not a walk in the park.

vittoria difficult?
i have rubino pros on now and had a randonneur on the back for a while. i've never had any difficulty with em.

Get better levers.

Ultrasports are about the hardest tires to mount or dismount I've every dealt with, and the only on which that I've broken park levers getting them off.

It's those tires in particular, not contis - gatorskins practically fall off the rim for me, and kevlar beaded vittorias I found really easy to mount.

If you know what you are doing you don't need levers at all. But they help.

I have some problems with conti's on mavic open pros or open sports.

Obviously you have not seen a really tight tire/rim combo.

i hate ultrasports. hardest tire to mount, ever.

one of these tires cost me 4 tubes, and 2 tire levers. before i took them back to my LBS to have them mounted. LBS used a koolstop beadjack and VAR tool to get it mounted and still managed to pinch the tube.
So i took it back to the store i got them from (MEC) where the sales guy there insisted that he could mount them. 20 minutes and a torn sidewall later he let me return them.

i have voiced my opinion on this matter on several occasions.

Yeah the Conti Ultra Sports are ridiculous. It took 3 people to mount mine, but after the first time it was somewhat easier.

Agreed...Ultrasports are a huge PITA to get off. Other Continental tires I have no problems with.

its your rims folks.

my Vittorias were a breeze on my old rims. and everything is a pain on my new rims.

yeah, they can be tough to get on, but i'll give you a dollar if they roll of nearly as easy as any other tire.
edit: also, for the money im pretty positive they are the best. i've used continentals a couple time and each time the tires hold up great and with a fair amount of skidding last usually about 2 months

thats good in my book.

+a million. I also buy 700cx23 ultrasports at MEC because they're good/cheap tires, but I guess the "2 of 3" rule here is good/cheap/easy to mount and unmount. With or without levers, my hands are always on fire by the time I'm done getting conti ultrasports off my rims.

An old crusty wrench told me that all French tires are a little tighter than normal, which has been my experience. Panaracer extreme duros are the worst I've ever seen, though, I broke a couple of good levers on them, though the giant pedro's ones finally worked.

Also, velox is unfortunately kind of the enemy with tight tires, thinner nylon tape or veloplugs help a lot.

Yeah all our rims, from different manufacturers all seem to have the same problem with one specific tire.

gatorskins very hard to mount.....

Indeed, Ultra Sports have some serious sidewall/bead going on, hardly any give at all! I can remember one time having to remove and install one without levers and yeah... between the cussing and tearing part of the thumbnail away from the skin it wasnt a pleasant experience at all. but overall a good tire for the money... cheap as hell locally.

In my experience, gatorskins aren't that hard to mount. Not the easiest tire, but not that bad. Conti contacts are pretty easy to mount, but they didn't last very long.

I was working on a bike yesterday with CST compressor tires (never heard of them before). They were the most rediculous tires I had ever had the misfortune of experiencing. It took two people and a lot of grunting, cursing and wasted time to get them off the rim. At one point we almost gave up and cut the bead off with some cable cutters.

when you're trying to get that last little bit of tire on, stop for a sec. squeeze the tire into the rim all the way around, on both sides, till you reach the last part that's hanging. pushes the tire into the rim, helps it sit better, and loosens it up. makes it much easier, even with bears like gatorskins. this method keeps me from using levers when i install a tire, which is teh good practice.

I thought I was the only one having trouble with the Ultra Sport. Although, they seem to come off easier on some of my wheels than others. I still keep them around as emergency back-up tires. But I really don't want to have to repair a flat if my bicycle is my only way home.

get good tire levers and man up

i have the same troubles with my ultrasports. many broken levers and pinched tubes. it's not your rims.

running continental ultra in the back, michelin in front

i've broken 3 levers on the conti, never any problems with the michelin

nice tires though for the price

someone once mentioned using a lil soapy water on the rim to ease installation.

+1...sort of. never used ultrasports, but GP 3000/4000/Force/Attack i can all mount/dismount with no levers. of course, i have forearms like popeye.