The American component brand adds to an already-robust list of road bike tire choices.

299 grams (actual)

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Bontrager’s in the midst of overhauling its drop bar tire lineup. First was its gravel tire lineup, replacing a range of underwhelming tires with a strong improvement. Now comes its line of road tires, dubbed the Bontrager Aeolus road tire.

Trek’s component arm, Bontrager, has simplified its lineup (or made it more confusing depending on how you feel) with a range of four new road tires for its performance road bikes. The Aeolus lineup starts with the Aeolus RSL, reviewed here.

As one might expect, Bontrager claims its new Aeolus RSL tires add efficiency both in rolling resistance and aerodynamically. What are they like to ride, however? Let’s dig in.

Quick hits: Six things to know about the Bontrager Aeolus RSL tire

• The Aeolus road tire replaces the range of R-series road tires, starting with the Aeolus RSL.
• Aeolus RSL model claims 3.7-watt savings in rolling resistance over the previous Bontrager R3 TLR.
• A claimed 1.7-watt aero savings over the R3 TLR at 22 miles per hour (35 kph).
• Sizes: All Aeolus tires are available in 700c x 26 mm, 28 mm, 30 mm, and 32 mm widths.
• Price: $99.99 (Aeolus RSL) per tire.
• For more: trekbikes.com/bontrager

Detailing the Aeolus RSL

Bontrager’s gravel tire revamp was much needed. The new Aeolus tire reboot? A bit less so. Perhaps the biggest hole in the lineup was the lack of a high-end tubeless road bike tire; previously, Bontrager offered a tubeless-ready R3 road tire or a clincher-only R4 road tire. This new Aeolus RSL road tire seemingly merges the two into one new high-end road tire.

The Aeolus RSL features a 320 TPI cotton casing. Generally the higher the number, the more supple (ie, smoother over the small bumps and light cracks in the road), and the more likely for it to be punctured. That casing is attached to a tire bead that is compatible with both hooked and hookless rims.

Of course, the bit that touches the pavement matters too, and that’s where Bontrager uses what it calls a ‘Race Dual-Compound.’ Its tread is fairly straightforward, with a slick center and a very slight herringbone detail along the sides of the tire. Between the tread and the casing is a sub-tread breaker belt that goes just above the cotton casing.

Using a 28 mm wide tire, Bontrager says its new Aeolus RSL road tire offers a 3.7-watt savings in rolling resistance over a 25 mm R3 TLR tubeless road tire at 22 miles per hour (35 kph), previously Bontrager’s fastest tire. If that wasn’t enough, Bontager says it can save the rider an additional 1.7 watts at 22 mph (35 kph) purely from aero efficiency. That savings balloons to 6.1 watts at 34 mph (55 kph).

As of now, there’s just one variation available at launch: the Bontrager Aeolus RSL. That tire will come in a 26 mm, 28 mm, 30 mm, and 32 mm tire width, in just the one colorway shown here, and at $99.99 USD. That’s Vittoria Corsa Pro and Pirelli P Zero Race TLR RS money, serious business.

Riding the Bontrager Aeolus RSL

Some numbers. Actual width when mounted to a rim with a 23 mm internal rim width at 60 PSI was 28.3 mm when new, and roughly 28.6 mm after some riding time. The actual weight for a 28 mm tire was 299 grams.

Installation required some finesse. Both tires were eventually seated on with a floor pump, but not without massaging the tire to get part of it seated onto the rim first. If you don’t have the patience, a two-stage tubeless pump or a compressor will likely be necessary to get these tires installed.

As was the case with the Bontrager’s gravel tire, the new Aeolus RSL is a helpful upgrade over the previous generation road tire. I can’t verify Bontrager’s new performance claims, but I can say that these tires feel about as good as the best road tires out there.

Ride quality — how the tire balances smoothing out vibrations without filtering everything away  — is much improved over the R3 TLR tire. The sidewalls feel a bit less stiff than what I remember them being and are pleasantly compliant over most surfaces. The Aeolus RSL isn’t quite as sensitive to tire pressure changes as the likes of the aforementioned Vittoria Corsa Pro, but it offers similar ride quality to the likes of the newly released Pirelli P Zero Race TLR.

There’s plenty of grip through the corners in the dry, and it gripped better than I thought when cornering through dusty and sandy turns as well.

Conclusion

Bontrager has improved its top-end road tire option with the new Bontrager Aeolus RSL road tire. Are there better road tires out there? Perhaps, but the choice will come down to personal preference more than ever. It’s a solid tire, albeit one that will likely lack some of the cachet of its competitors.

I think I’d start to look hard at the Aeolus RSL tire if I was already using Bontrager’s own Aeolus 51 wheelset. As marginal as they might be, there are still aero gains to be made by using a tire designed to work with a specific wheelset in mind.

If you’re not using a Bontrager wheelset, however? There are simply so many excellent road options that can cost an arm and a leg at retail prices, the Bontrager Aeolus RSL tire included. This is the new normal, and unless you’re tied to a specific tire brand, pick the tire that fits your rims and your budget. It’s hard to go wrong, and Bontrager’s latest road tire adds to that competition.