DUKE Sierra 42 Wheelset

Description

Between the featherweight Sierra 27 and the wind-cheating Æra sets sits the Sierra 42 — the wheel DUKE built for gravel that rolls fast and keeps rolling. A 42mm-deep, 375-gram rim in Toray T1100 carbon, made with the same SLR5 process as DUKE's most advanced mountain bike rims, and hand-built in the same French workshop that has been lacing wheels one at a time for 18 years. In the Mad Max build, the pair starts at 1,290 grams — remarkably little for a wheel with this much profile.

The 42 is the Sierra for rolling courses and rides where average speed matters but the ground stays honest: enough depth to hold momentum on flat and rolling terrain, not so much that crosswinds or gram-counting become part of the conversation. The 28mm internal width lets a 40mm tire (up to 2.2" optimal, 2.4" compatible) run at proper gravel pressures, and DRC tuning filters the chatter without deadening the ride — accelerations stay sharp, broken surfaces stay manageable, and the last two hours of a long day hurt less.

Construction is the full SLR5 playbook. SpokeCore molds every spoke hole into the layup rather than drilling through cured carbon, preserving fiber integrity and letting DUKE tune stiffness precisely. The AntiPinch bead design protects tires from square-edge hits at low pressure, and the VFP finish skips varnish entirely — lighter, more scratch-resistant, and dramatically cleaner to produce. Versus the outgoing Baccara WRX 42, the rim drops 40 grams. Hooked, tubeless-ready, with DUKE tape and valves in the box.

Every set is hand-built to order: Mad Max or Tune Nano hubs, Sapim CX-Ray spokes standard with Tune's CxCarbon available on the top build, and your choice of freehub — XDR, HG11, N3W, or MicroSpline. If you're looking for a fully custom build around these rims — spoke counts, decals, a hub we don't list — reach out for a quote.