I mount and balance my own tires with levers. One thing that's always been an issue is lubricant. On spoke/tube wheels I can squeak by without it but on tubless/alloy wheels I've found it to be almost impossible without some sort of lubricant.

I don't like soap & water because of the corrosion. I've tried ruglyde but it dries faster than I can mount the tire. The only thing I've found that really works well is silicone spray. A friend of mine who is a mechanic at a dealership told me about it, but I'm wondering what other people use. I've never had any trouble with the silicone in terms of slippage on the rim and I clean any stray spray off the rest of the tire before riding, but I've only mounted 2 or 3 this way.

What do you guys think?

 

"Always fairy liquid"

Corrosion not really a problem with alloy rims, I mix it (75%) with water and apply liberally.

 

Fairy liquid? Forcing myself not to say something childish.

 

Let it all out chaos