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Yep, they're a real fucker to get on. What I did - after mangling two tubes trying to force them onto the rim - was working around from the valve, tying off the tyre so that the bead stays on as you work around, moving the ties as you go along. Anything that'll keep the bead from slipping off will do: shoe laces, cable ties, canvas rucksack cords, even pedal straps that you can ratchet right down. Pinching the tyre and tube helped seat the bead in, but I still had to use a tyre lever right at the very end to get the last bit on. I took the tyre off once I'd fitted it the first time and the bead seemed to bed in a bit more easily.
There's a video
of a bloke doing something similar with Schwalbe Marathons which are also a beast to fit.
I have just put together this exact combination of rim and tyre - and boy did that test my thumb strength!
Don't know the cable-tie trick; what's that (I might need it for the other wheel that I've not yet got round to doing).