Bontrager’s SE6, Their Most Aggressive MTB Tire and the Redesigned SE5 - Bike Tires Dissected
When Bontrager reached out to use several months ago about an exclusive opportunity to help them tell the launch story of two new tires, we jumped at the opportunity. Like any good mountain biker, we absolutely love fresh tires and when a new tread pattern or compound comes out, it’s almost like a challenge we have to accept. Engineers, much like mountain bikers enjoy a good challenge and the mad scientists at Bontrager’s tire department have been working hard on new recipes, compound application and tread patterns. Today they are launching several new tires and treads, which you can see below, but we’ll be focusing on the SE5 and SE6 as they’re right in our wheelhouse, no pun intended.
The SE line is sort of like Bontrager’s enduro line, you could even say it’s like a super enduro category tire designed for aggressive riders in the 140-160ish-mm range. They’re stout and offer protection against impact without being overly stiff like their G series (Gravity) tires. Construction on both the SE5 and SE6 utilizes Bontrager’s Core Strength casing, which is made of lightweight nylon inserts for sidewall support and protection. There’s a reinforced chafer for added bead protection as well.
Both traction and rolling speed are improved thanks to Bontrager making some moves internally that will yield more control and customization on their own tires. Their TM-Grip grip compound is a soft-dual ply rubber system with a firmer base across all knobs and softer, high grip rubber on top. The 120 TPI construction works with the soft rubber to give great feel and predictability. The new TM-Grip compound is also claimed to roll noticeably faster than the original SE5 while the updated casing also adds 15% increase in protection from punctures.
What users may appreciate most about the updated Bontrager SE5 however is the new knob design. Bontrager eliminated the “float zone” or channel found in the gap between the center knobs and the transition knobs. The tires are now designed to offer a much more predictable feel and give traction as the tire transitions from center to shoulder. A critique many riders had with the SE5 and similar tires, like the Maxxis Minion DHF.
Next up the SE6 is Bontrager’s entry to the most aggressive trail tire category. It’s certainly a monster of a tire. It has plenty of knobs all over for predictable traction no matter which way you’re leaning the bike. We interviewed Bontrager engineers about the tire and it’s similarities to others we’ve seen, and they address that in our interview below. To paraphrase, Bontrager knows that there are popular tires out there that offer desirable traits, and they tested and studied them before making what they thought would be a super aggressive tire for biting traction in any terrain or condition. After just a few months on the tire, we’re pretty impressed with the traction on both sets we’ve been riding, and will report back on our long term reviews coming soon.
Check out the full dissected story here:
https://theloamwolf.com/2021/07/01/di...
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