Prime's new carbon wheels cost less than they weigh – tipping the scales at 1,272 grams

Prime has launched two new sets of carbon wheels; the Primavera for road and the Orra for gravel.

A new set of hoops is perhaps the most reliable way to improve your stock road or gravel bike and Prime is marketing its new wheelsets as upgrades delivering noticeable performance benefits. Both are offered in a range of rim depths and are built around the brand’s new star ratchet hubs.

Designed and developed in-house, the latest Primavera wheels are Prime’s top-tier carbon road offerings. The new rim profile is more aerodynamically efficient than before, Prime says, with CFD testing showing a reduction in drag compared to the outgoing model.

It’s stronger too. The new clincher tubeless-ready rims are made using T800 UD carbon fibre and are also infused with kevlar to improve thickness and impact strength without a serious weight penalty; in their lightest configuration the Primavera’s tip the scales at just 1,272 grams per pair.

Rim depths start at 32mm and also include a 44mm, 56mm and 85mm depth models, ensuring that the Primavera can serve as an upgrade for both a featherweight climbing bike and a watt-saving aero machine. As for external and internal rim measurements, all use a 30mm and 23mm width combination.

Prime has equipped the Primavera with its new Star Ratchet hub. It features a 6063-T6 aluminium hub shell, an aluminium axle and Japanese steel sealed bearings. 

But it’s the ratchet system that Prime believes is the ‘star’ of the show. It uses heat-treated carbon ratchet rings with 36 points of engagement, which it says delivers “faster and more reactive pick up compared to a conventional spring and pawl hub.” 

Prime’s numbers appear to back-up its claims; it says, using a 172.5mm crank arm length, its 36t ratchet has a pick up angle of 6.36 degrees compared to a 14.32 degree average of certain spring and pawl hubs. This number can be improved further with an upgrade to a 54t ratchet, which is offered as an upgrade kit. 

Other noteworthy details of the Primavera wheelsets include the use of straightpull DT Swiss Aerolite spokes, 24 hole front and rear. Rim brake fans will also be pleased to note the Primavera’s aren’t offered as disc-only options.

Like the Primavera wheels, the Orra V2 is billed as Prime’s top-end gravel offering. Available in both 700c and 650b sizes, the carbon rims now feature an asymmetrical design with a wider rim profile that measures 25mm internally and 31mm externally. Rim depth is 30mm for the 650b size and 35mm for the 700c wheels. The new Orra rims, clincher and tubeless-ready, are built using the same T800 UD carbon fibre construction as the Primavera model but are disc only.

They also use the same star ratchet hub but are delivered with J-bend Pillar spokes, which seem a better fit for gravel riding and bikepacking trips.

The Primavera wheels retail at $1,098.00 / £899.99 for a pair and can also be bought as front and rear wheel only, should you want to run differing depths, costing $610.00 / £499.99 and $732.00 / £599.99 respectively.

The Orra V2 wheelsets cost $732.00 / £599.99 for the 700c size and $793.00 / £649.99 for the 650b option. Both are also offered with alloy rims and cost  $366.00 / £299.99 for the pair.

We've got a set of the Primavera wheels in on test, so stay tuned for a full review. For more details right now, visit primebikecomponents.com