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Princeton Grit 4540 EVO Disc Brake Wheelset w/Tactic TR01 Hubs Info

The Princeton Grit 4540 EVO Disc Brake Wheelset with Tactic TR01 Hubs is a road-and-gravel crossover wheel built around asymmetric rim depths — 45mm at the front, 40mm at the rear — and Princeton CarbonWorks' patented Radially Staggered Lacing technology. Princeton CarbonWorks is a Connecticut-based manufacturer that builds carbon wheels to order, with a focus on engineering approaches that larger production brands typically don't pursue. The Grit 4540 EVO represents their thinking on what a fast, versatile wheel for modern wide-tire riding should look like: light enough to climb with, deep enough to move through air at speed, and structurally durable enough to handle whatever a mixed road-and-gravel schedule produces.

The rims weigh 385 grams each, with a 24mm internal width and a hooked bead that accommodates both tubeless and traditional clincher setups. Princeton uses what they call a hole-less tire bed — the internal rim surface has no spoke holes at all, sealed completely from the inside. That design choice has a direct structural consequence: spoke holes in a carbon rim are stress concentration points, and eliminating them raises the rim's impact resistance substantially. Princeton rates the Grit 4540 EVO at 130 joules of impact resistance, 325% above the UCI minimum. For a wheelset expected to see rough pavement, loose gravel, and unpredictable surfaces, that number reflects a meaningfully different structural approach than rims built to conventional spoke-hole construction at similar weights. No bed tape is needed, and there is no weak point in the tire bed to crack under impact.

Radially Staggered Lacing is the design that distinguishes Princeton wheels from everything else in this category. On a conventional rear wheel, the drive and non-drive side spokes have different bracing angles because the hub flanges sit asymmetrically relative to the rim centerline — the drive side is offset inward to make room for the cassette. That asymmetry produces uneven spoke tensions: drive side spokes are pulled tight, non-drive side spokes run comparatively slack, and the imbalance degrades stiffness consistency and power transfer. RSL changes this by varying the local rim depth at each spoke attachment point, alternating between two depths around the circumference. Drive side spokes attach where the rim is slightly deeper; non-drive side spokes attach where it is shallower. The change in local depth changes the effective bracing angle at each location, allowing Princeton to balance spoke tensions across both sides of the wheel. A more evenly tensioned wheel translates load more directly through the rim, holds its line more consistently under hard pedaling, and resists fatigue at the spoke beds more effectively than a conventionally laced equivalent.

The hubs on this configuration are Tactic Racing TR01s — precision-machined, hardcoat-anodized aluminum, hand assembled in Germany. At 64 grams for the front and 151 grams for the rear, the pair weighs 215 grams total, which is among the lightest disc hub sets available at any price. The rear hub uses a ConicalFace engagement mechanism with 45 teeth. The conical geometry self-centers based on the concentric shape of the engagement cones, and Tactic argues this design delivers the largest effective engagement surface area of any comparable freehub mechanism. Bearings are ABEC 7 ceramic with a Tungsten Disulfide (WS2) low-friction coating, which maintains consistent low rolling resistance across a wider temperature range than uncoated steel. Both hubs use Center Lock disc interfaces, and the rear is available with Shimano, SRAM XDR, or Campagnolo freehub bodies — the price range of $4,100 to $4,500 reflects freehub body selection.

The 24mm internal width supports tires from 28mm road rubber through 45mm gravel, making the Grit 4540 EVO genuinely effective across both disciplines rather than optimized for one and tolerated in the other. Princeton offers the wheelset in ten colorways: Matte Black, Matte White, Gloss Black, Gloss White, Gloss Chrome, Gloss Gold, Matte Bronze, Matte Lava, Gloss Slate, and Gloss Ivy — a wider range of finish options than most carbon wheel manufacturers offer at any price. For a rider who wants a road-legal, gravel-capable wheelset built around engineering that is structurally and mechanically different from the mainstream options, the Grit 4540 EVO makes a strong case for the price.

Princeton Grit 4540 EVO Disc Brake Wheelset w/Tactic TR01 Hubs - Specifications

Material:

Carbon

Brake Type:

Centerlock Disc

Tire Type:

Clincher or Tubeless

Hub:

Tactic Racing TR01

Rim Depth:

40mm to 45mm Variable

Rim Inner Width:

24mm

*Specifications are subject to change.

The RA Perspective

The Grit 4540 EVO is one of the more interesting wheelsets we carry. Princeton builds in Connecticut, to order, in small production runs — and the wheels that come out of their shop don't look or feel like anything else at this price. The RSL lacing pattern is visible on the rim if you look closely: the slight variation in depth at each spoke bed is something you can actually see, and once you understand what it's doing structurally, it's hard to look at a conventionally laced carbon rim the same way.

The 130J impact rating is the number we lead with when customers ask about durability. Carbon wheels at this price often carry the assumption of fragility — something you worry about on rough roads or save for race day only. The Grit 4540 EVO is not that. The hole-less bed removes the stress risers that cause most carbon rim failures at the spoke beds, and in our experience these wheels handle rough surfaces with a confidence that a lot of more expensive carbon options don't match.

The Tactic TR01 hubs are a smart pairing. At 215 grams for the set, the weight is legitimately exceptional — lighter than most high-end hub options at any price — and the ConicalFace engagement mechanism snaps in cleanly without the loud ratchet chatter that a lot of high-tooth-count hubs produce. The ABEC 7 ceramic bearings roll freely and stay consistent in cold and wet conditions.

One constraint worth knowing: the 24mm internal width is optimized for 28mm tires and wider. If you're running 25mm road tires, the Grit isn't the ideal pairing. This wheel performs at its best when you're running 30mm or wider — which, for most riders building a fast all-around setup in 2026, is exactly what they're doing.