And in this corner, we have a new contender entering the ring! As of a few days ago you can now find Prime Bicycles on social media; while the brand is yet to launch officially, they are already teasing us with carefully selected photos of their upcoming DH bike.
No details have been released yet, but we know Prime’s first offering will be a carbon-framed downhill bike which is capable of running 29” wheels. It doesn’t look like there’s anything earth shattering happening design-wise, but read on to see what other tidbits I could gather from the photos Prime has posted.
Who’s behind Prime Bicycles?
So who is Prime? Well, the man behind the incoming new brand is Peter Siulczynski, founder of Gravity Group. Gravity Group is a racing agency based in Innsbruck, Austria, who has led the Kenda Morewood, Kenda Tomac and Gravity Group-Turner World Cup Downhill teams. Racers who have worked with the group include Sam Blenkinsop, Nathan Rennie, Filip Polc, Mitch Delfs and Joost Wichman.
Expanding from his racing experience, Siulczynski decided it was time to create his own bike brand. Prime Bicycles aims to take their place as a premium brand that will compete with the biggest and most recognized names in the bike industry. They hope to make bikes that prove to be just as fast or faster on the race circuit.
The yet-to-launch brand has partnered up with Cesar Rojo and the Cero design team, they’ve found an Asian carbon factory to work with, and already have a group of riders testing their products. Prime says they’ve spend thousands of hours developing their ‘SHRED Defined’ bicycles, which sounds about right as their Facebook page lists their founding date as Jan. 1 2016.
What the photos tell us:
With no official details or specs available yet, here’s all the data I could gleam from the pictures Prime has posted online…
The bike is definitely a DH rig, and we know it is made from carbon fiber. The frame’s top tube is generously sloped and the rear shock is mounted vertically, but quite low in the frame as it nearly pierces the down tube. The seat mast is thickly reinforced above the top tube, much like Forbidden Bikes’ recent Druid frame.
Prime has made efforts to not completely show their suspension linkage, but I’d guess it’s either a linkage-driven single pivot or there’s a short link just above the BB shell (I can’t see this area in any of their photos!). The rear triangle appears to be a one-piece design. The bike is pictured with an air shock, so I’m assuming it will ride well with either air or coil-sprung shocks.
Judging by the Fox 49 fork, I know the front wheel is a 29”! It appears the bike is on a matched 29” wheelset, but that’s just my best guess from the available photos. We’ll have to wait to confirm this, and to see if Prime offers different wheel size options.
The incoming bike also has internal cable routing through the front triangle. The shifter cable runs through the chainstay right to the derailleur, but I can’t say if the brake cable runs internally or along the outside of its chainstay.
There’s not much point speculating beyond this, so we’ll have to wait for further news and/or a brand launch announcement to get more details on this incoming DH bike. If you like what you see, follow Prime Bicycles on Facebook and Instagram for more hints of what’s to come.
*An earlier version of this story has Cesar Rojo listed as Cesar Rosa, we apologize for the error.
