Prime Orra Gravel Wheelset review

Prime’s components are designed and developed in the UK, with input from sponsored teams and riders. Its road and gravel wheelsets are all tested at the Silverstone Sports Hub wind tunnel.

The Prime Orra Carbon is aimed squarely at budget carbon gravel territory and is designed to perform as an all-rounder across a mix of terrain from hard-packed trails to rocky paths.

All-in, the gravel wheelset has impressed with its solid all-round performance, especially given the relatively low price.

Prime Orra details and specifications

The Prime Orra wheelset comes with a Shimano HG freehub as standard. If you want to run an XDR freehub instead, you will need to hand over an extra £50 for the upgrade.

The carbon rim is built from T700 unidirectional carbon fibre. The slick matt finish and understated graphics certainly give the impression of a much more expensive wheelset.

The new 35mm-deep rim brings a broad 25mm internal rim width, flaring to 31mm externally.

The rim uses a hookless design, so like most gravel wheelsets, it’s intended for a tubeless setup (although you could run inner tubes inside a tubeless tyre, if you wanted).

The CNC alloy hubs have flanges which accept J-bend spokes, which should make sourcing spares easy.

The freehub uses a 36-point-of-engagement star-ratchet system.

At 1,570g a pair (including rim tape) the Orra is competitive for its very modest price tag.

Prime also offers the Orra wheelset in a 650b version, and alloy versions in both sizes for £299.99 apiece.

Prime Orra ride impressions

On the road, the Orra delivers a stiff and responsive ride.

It features a star ratchet freehub design, rather than a pawl hub design. It makes for a very positive engagement and power transfer.

It’s not measurably faster, but feels firmer.

The downside is that the freewheel has some drag – I found it obviously slowed my progression when not pedalling on the road.

On the trail that small amount of drag becomes less of an issue – the positive engagement is a dominating plus, especially powering through technical sections.

While there’s not much forgiveness in the way of shock absorption, the wide internal rim width gives gravel tyres a wider profile that offers a marginal improvement in compliance.

Fitting wider tyres and running lower tyre pressures aids compliance further, though these are by no means the most comfortable wheels you’ll find.

Nevertheless, a rough surface is going to make itself known.

Prime Orra bottom line

The Prime Orra wheelset’s low price certainly makes for a compelling reason to buy.

If your gravel riding often takes in more challenging terrain than hardpack and country lanes, the reassuringly solid engagement of the Orra freehub is likely to win you over.

This isn’t the most complete wheelset available today, but it has proven a solid all-rounder at a price very few can match.