Bought some none black chilli ones. As I enjoyed the none bc rubber queens last year. Now I’ve changed tyres before Maxxis Advantage and Conti RQ but the barons seem really stiff at the bead. Most of the time I can get tyres on without levers but these are hardwork.

Tried one bead at a time method but they are incredibly stiff. Being fitted to standard maddux rims on cannondale. Now do I resort to tyre levers or give up and head to halfords or LBS. Fractured my finger last year and haven’t fitted tyres since so maybe down on power there.

As per my off topic thread, also been I’ll for the past week.

I feel your pain. I had a steel bead Baron that I just could not fit, even using soap and steel levers! I gave it away. Kevlar beaded- never been a problem, fitted by hand only.

Use tyre levers – they exist for a reason! Push the beads right into the central well of the rim, that usually makes a big difference to how tight they feel.