YOELEO NxT SL2 C60 Review: Impressive Value for Money!

Cyclists Hub is supported by its readers. We may receive a commission if you buy products using our links.
All content on Cyclists Hub is written by humans, not robots. Learn More

YOELEO introduced their NxT SL2 last year, and I finally got my hands on them. In this review, you learn how they perform compared to other Chinese carbon wheels and much more!

My SL2 C60 wheels scoring at a glance:
Crosswind Stability 4/5 | Stiffness 4/5 | Riding Comfort 5/5 | Speed Maintenance 5/5 | Tire On 3/5 | Trueness 4/5 | Spoke Tension 5/5 | Dishing 5/5 | Price 3/5 | OVERALL 4.2/5
More about this road wheels scoring.

YOELEO NxT SL2 C60 Main Features

Here is a quick summary of the features and specs of the YOELEO NxT SL2 C60 wheels.

YOELEO NxT SL2 Wheels: What’s New?

YOELEO improved its wheelset line-up by slightly reducing weight, offering different rim depths, making the rims wider, and using different hubs. The price also increased a bit. The specifications look promising on paper, beating many Chinese and Western competitors at this price range. The following table shows the differences between NxT and NxT SL2.

As you can see from the table, the rim width follows today’s standard. But the same question arises as with Farsports C5: Are they going to be future-proof enough? I will dive into this later in this review.

First Impressions and Unboxing

The C60 wheels came in a black, branded box. They were intact thanks to the protection foam. The packing includes 2 valve extenders and 2 spare spokes. The tubeless rim tape is not included, but it is not needed because the rims have no spoke holes.

Straight out of the box, the wheels felt solid (as I am used to from YOELEO), so I proceeded to photoshoot and in-house tests.

In-House Tests

Lateral and Radial Trueness

I checked both wheels’ lateral and radial trueness on a truing stand. The rear wheel turned out perfectly. The front wheel was a bit worse in terms of the lateral trueness. It had a small (<0.5mm) deviation in one place. But otherwise, it was perfect.

Spoke Tension

The spoke tension was basically perfect, as you can see in the images below. They form a nice circle, showing a consistent spoke tension across all spokes.

Considering the super-consistent spoke tension and the slight lateral deviation of the front wheel, it’s possible that the rims themselves were not perfectly straight. Otherwise, there should not be any deviation. Anyway, all wheels from YOELEO I reviewed reached high scores in this area, so it’s nice to see they keep the assembly quality consistent.

Rim Centering (Dishing)

The dishing (how well-centered the hub is) also ended pretty well. The gap between the dishing pin and the hub end cap was <0.5mm, meaning the hubs were almost perfectly centered.

A Look Inside

Next, I also used the endoscope to look inside the rims. They looked clean and smooth. I found no epoxy residue, wrinkles, or anything wrong. You can notice the scratches on the walls caused by guiding nipples with a magnet into the spoke holes during the assembly process. See the detailed photos below.

The Difficulty of Putting the Tire On

SL2 C60 wheels are tubeless-ready and don’t need tubeless rim tape. So, as always, I tried to put on Tufo Comtura 4 TR 28mm tires. I didn’t need tire levers to do this, as it was fairly easy with used tires. Unfortunately, I needed a compressor to seat them. Seating them with a floor pump was a mission impossible. I’m yet to find a wide-rim-width wheelset that would allow me to seat 28mm tires with a floor pump. This was less of an issue with narrower rims.

Riding Experience

I rode an SL2 C60 for the first time in Czechia. It’s also the first time I have had this specific rim depth; I usually test 45 or 50-mm wheels. This allows me to eliminate one variable from the comparison. But the SL2 C50 and C60 have almost the same weight, so I chose the C60 for the aero benefits and basically no weight penalty. So, what is my experience with them after about 500 km?

Except for the fact that they look cooler than shallower wheels, in a blind test, I would probably not notice the difference between the 50 or 60mm versions. This applies to most scenarios. The only difference I noticed is in crosswind stability and high speeds. In crosswinds, the deeper wheels are marginally less stable, but paradoxically, they still feel more stable than the older generations of Lún HYPER SE D45 wheels.

At high speeds over 37mph [60 km/h], which I usually only reach in descents, they feel fast, so when I sit in an aero position, I usually keep picking up speed, or manage to maintain it depending on the gradient. I would like to have 80 kg someday to try how it flies downhill. At 70 kg, the descents aren’t the same.

NxT SL2 feel comfortable even on worse roads, especially when combined with 28mm and wider tires that allow me to ride lower pressures. They are definitely more comfortable than carbon-spoke wheels. This brings me to stiffness. I want to stress that I’m a pretty lightweight rider who hardly ever exceeds 1000W peak. I do notice that steel-spoke wheels are generally less stiff than carbon-spoke ones. However, the differences between steel-spoke wheels are marginal. NxT SL2 feel similarly stiff as the Farsports C5 or previous generation YOELEO SAT PRO.

Thanks to the low weight of NxT SL2 60mm (1359g), they also feel pretty agile. Not as agile as Elitewheels DRIVE 45mm, but not far away. They simply don’t feel sluggish. On the other hand, they maintain momentum better than the DRIVE wheels. This is noticeable especially during fast group rides or descents.

The differences between Chinese bicycle brands are gradually blurring in terms of products, and they differ mainly in customer support and after-sales service. Not long ago, YOELEO experienced a crisis—it took them a long time to deliver products and reply to customers. It seems things have improved now, as they have a new warehouse in central Europe, and I don’t see frequent criticism online anymore. I would be happy if you could share your experience in the comments or my Facebook group.

Let’s discuss the rim width for a moment. It’s a hot topic as wider seems to be better. NxT SL2 have an internal rim width of 23.3mm and the external one 31.1mm. This rim width is similar to that of Farsports C and S-series wheels. Some people will scream that this is not enough. I think it’s a minimum sellable width in 2025. I would be fine with wider rims, especially if I were to use 32mm tires. But one thing is clear: 21mm rim width became obsolete, and it’s good that YOELEO ditched it. I am curious where things go from here.

Remember that serviceability won’t be as easy with these wheels due to the lack of rim bed holes. So if you break a spoke, its replacement will require a magnet and patience to guide the nipple into the spoke hole. The following video from ParkTool explains how to do it.

As with the competing Chinese wheels, it would be great to see an aerodynamic comparison with Western or Chinese wheels. But such testing costs money that would otherwise be transferred onto us, customers. Since I don’t compete, I don’t care if my wheelset is 1W slower or faster. I prefer it to be 3 times cheaper than a Western alternative.

The last thing I want to mention is the hub. The YOELEO 230 DB PRO NXT hubs are finally much quieter than the previous generation, which annoyed not only me, but everybody around.

YOELEO NxT SL2 C60 Alternatives

You can also check out the wheels in the following table, which shows the individual criteria of all wheels I tested and my rating.

My Verdict

I’m happy for YOELEO that they managed to improve their NxT gen wheels so much. The weight improvement is quite significant, while the rim width has increased. They basically achieved the same as Farsports with their 2025 wheel lineup. YOELEO has a simple lineup that offers fewer options. Still, they seem to belong among the best value-for-money Chinese wheels now.

They offer the ideal rim width for 28mm tires and are still suitable for wider ones. Thanks to steel spokes, they are more comfortable than carbon-spoke wheels. Yet, they don’t feel that much softer. You shouldn’t notice a big difference if you are a lighter rider or don’t have as high maximum power.

I was very curious about the crosswind stability of the 60mm deep wheels. They’re slightly less stable than shallower 45–50mm wheels, but the difference is minimal. They feel predictable, and I had no trouble staying upright even at my lower weight of about 70 kg.

Despite their low weight, they hold speed pretty well. I enjoy them most on flat roads, descents, and rolling terrain. Climbing with them is fine, but for big mountains, I’d still choose shallower wheels like the NxT C35.

Overall, you can’t go wrong with this wheelset. It offers solid value for money. However, as always, it depends on what you are looking for. For more details, you can read my in-depth guide on choosing road wheels. But I dare say that these wheels will suit 80% of amateur riders.

Anyway, I hope you found this review helpful. If you decide to purchase them, please use the discount code and link below. It’s the best way you can save and support this website. Feel free to also join my Facebook group, where we discuss everything about Chinese bikes. Thank you very much in advance.

YOELEO Wheels FAQ

The product for this review was kindly provided by the manufacturer. This did not influence my overall verdict or my opinion about the product. You can learn more about how I approach reviews here.