Description
Every wheel brand claims their gravel range "climbs well." DUKE built one that actually commits to it. The Sierra 27 is the light end of the new Sierra family from the French operation that has been hand-building wheels for 18 years: a 280-gram, 27mm-deep rim in Toray T1100 carbon, laid up with the SLR5 process DUKE developed for its most advanced mountain bike rims. Built on DUKE's Mad Max hubs, the pair starts at 1,099 grams — a number that used to require tubulars, a road bike, and a small fortune.
The Sierra 27 is shaped for the rides where gravel gets vertical: adventure routes, hardpack, long days with serious elevation gain. The 29mm internal width — widest in the Sierra family — lets a 40mm tire (or up to 2.2") take its full shape at low pressure, and DUKE's DRC tuning does the rest: vibration filtered before it reaches your hands, grip maintained on broken surfaces, energy returned rather than absorbed. Light wheels that beat you up are a false economy; these don't.
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 control stiffness precisely. The AntiPinch bead design shrugs off square-edge hits at the low pressures this wheel invites. And the VFP finish skips varnish entirely — lighter, more scratch-resistant, and dramatically cleaner to produce. Versus the Baccara WRX it supersedes, the rim alone drops 30 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.
Features
Specs
- 280g rim at 27mm deep — 30g lighter per rim than the Baccara WRX it supersedes
- 29mm internal width, the widest in the Sierra family, sized for 40mm+ tires at low pressure
- DRC vibration damping and AntiPinch bead for control and durability on broken terrain
- SLR5 construction: Toray T1100 carbon, molded SpokeCore spoke holes, varnish-free VFP finish
| Build |
|---|
| Hub options | Mad Max (DUKE MADMAX3 CL SP) / Tune Nano / Tune Nano w/ CxCarbon spokes |
| Freehub options | XDR / HG11 / N3W / MicroSpline |
| Spokes | Sapim CX-Ray (Tune CxCarbon on top build) |
| Wheelset weight | From 1,099g (Mad Max build, pair) |
| Rims |
|---|
| Rim | Sierra 27 — 27mm deep, 280g |
| Internal width | 29mm |
| Hole count | 24 front and rear |
| Rim design | Hooked, tubeless ready (UST & TLR; tube compatible) |
| Tires |
|---|
| Optimal tire width | 40mm – 2.2" |
| Compatible tire width | 36mm – 2.4" |
| Construction |
|---|
| Carbon | Toray T1100, SLR5 process, aerospace-grade resin |
| Spoke interface | SpokeCore molded spoke holes (no drilling) |
| Finish | VFP varnish-free, naturally glossy |
| Technologies | DRC vibration damping, AntiPinch bead |
| Included | DUKE tubeless tape and valves |
| Origin | Hand-built in France |
