MovingSports SL1200 Review: What’s the Catch?

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MovingSports SL1200 wheels promise to offer an excellent price-to-gram ratio. At just 1265g at 50mm depth at $999, they do offer exactly that. But how is their assembly quality and ride feel?

My SL1200 wheels scoring at a glance:
Crosswind Stability 3/5 | Stiffness 5/5 | Riding Comfort 4/5 | Speed Maintenance 4/5 | Tire On 3/5 | Trueness 4/5 | Spoke Tension 5/5 | Dishing 5/5 | Price 3/5 | OVERALL 4.1/5
More about this road wheels scoring.

MovingSports SL1200: Main Features and Specs

Here are the main features and specifications of the MovingSports SL1200 50D wheels. Other rim depths (40D and 65D) are also available.

First Impressions and Unboxing

The MovingSports wheels arrived in a basic, brown, unbranded box. They were protected by a foam bag and protective covers. The box contains a tubeless rim tape and valves. Those are unfortunately not installed. Spare spokes, spoke tension chart, or anything similar was not included.

Similar to the Lún HYPER 5 or Elitewheels DRIVE 2 wheels, which I reviewed recently, the valves have multiple “air shafts” for improved airflow. In theory, they should make it easier to seat tubeless tires. Spoiler alert: It didn’t help.

In-House Tests

These tests provide a better understanding of the wheel’s assembly quality. So, did the SL1200 pass them?

Lateral and Radial Trueness

The SL1200 wheels’ lateral trueness was perfect. In fact, so perfect that the only deviation I noticed was the brand label. It was one of the best results I ever recorded.

Spoke Tension

Surprisingly, the spoke tension was not as good as the trueness, suggesting the rims were not perfectly straight and therefore required different spoke tension to ensure the wheels were true. A couple of spokes (2 on the rear wheel, 1 on the front wheel) were outside the 5% of the average. Despite these three spokes, the results are still good enough for a 5/5 score.

Rim Centering (Dishing)

The hub was almost perfectly centered, as the dishing tool showed only a slight gap between the end cap and the dishing tool pin. See the following photos.

A Look Inside

I also took a few photos from inside the rim. It was not perfectly smooth, as I encountered a few places with epoxy remnants. Based on the dozens of wheelsets I’ve seen from the inside, I would rate this as an average. It has no impact on the ride.

The Difficulty of Putting the Tire On and Off

MovingSports SL1200 are hooked. I always use Tufo Comtura 4 TR 28 mm tires to get consistent results when mounting and seating them. I could mount tires on them easily. I didn’t need tire levers. Unfortunately, seating was pretty challenging. I needed to use a fully “charged” compressor to ensure the tires get enough initial air burst to seat. It took me several tries. That was a bit disappointing since not everyone has access to a compressor.

Riding Experience

As always, I was looking forward to trying the wheels out in action. I’ve already tested more than 20 pairs of Chinese wheels, so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect from them. And I was pretty much spot on.

In terms of comfort, stiffness, and responsiveness, the SL1200 gives me a similar feel to wheels like the Elitewheels DRIVE 2, Lún HYPER 5, Nepest NOVA, and similar models. The wheels are relatively comfortable, stiff, and responsive.

However, I did notice one significant difference. The SL1200 wheels’ stability in crosswinds isn’t quite ideal. I attribute this to two factors. The first is the narrower inner and outer rim widths (21.3 mm and 29.0 mm), and the second is the rim profile. When I first held the wheels in my hands, I felt that they weren’t as U-shaped as the wheels mentioned above, but rather V-shaped. Overall, the rim profile feels a bit outdated, even though the wheels are relatively light.

However, in crosswinds, I had to be very careful to stay on course. The instability was similar to that of the first generations of Lún HYPER bikes. So, if these bikes have one weakness, it’s their poorer stability in windy conditions.

The rear hub uses a standard 36T steel ratchet and enclosed flanges. They handled low-cadence, high-power efforts without any issues, and after about 500 km on these wheels, I haven’t had any problems with them. The freehub’s noise isn’t particularly noticeable, and I’m fine with that.

My 28mm Tufo Comtura 4 TR tires inflate to around 30.8mm on these wheels, so the tire-rim transition is quite smooth.

Overall, these are not bad wheels. They are very competitively priced, but I feel like the similarly priced steel-spoked YOELEO NxT SL2 wheels still have an edge. Especially thanks to the more modern rim profile and better crosswind stability. I’m curious, though, to see what wheels MovingSports will release in the future.

MovingSports SL1200 Alternatives

There are several alternatives to the MovingSports SL1200. I want to highlight the Elitewheels DRIVE II, YOELEO NxT SL2, and Farsports C series. The table below displays all the wheels I tested, along with their ratings.

Reviewed Wheelset	Average Score	Crosswind Stability	Stiffness & Responsivity	Riding Comfort	Speed maintenance	Tire On¹	Lateral and Radial Trueness	Spoke Tension	Rim Centering	Price	Rim depth	Weight (F | R | Pair)	Rim Width (I | E)	Note	Buy
Nepest NOVA	4.1	5	5	4	4	3	5	5	4	2	45/55mm	567g, 691g, 1258g	23.4mm 29.6mm	Stiff, stable, and responsive, but might be too stiff for rough roads.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB to get 8% OFF
Elitewheels DRIVE II	4.2	5	5	4	4	3	4	5	5	3	50mm	602g, 720g, 1322g	23.2mm 30.7mm	Stiff, stable, and responsive, but might be too stiff for rough roads.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB to get 15% OFF
YOELEO NxT SL2 C60	4.2	4	4	5	5	3	4	5	5	3	60mm	623g, 736g, 1359g	23.3mm 31.1mm	Great balance between speed, riding comfort, and stability.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB to get 10% OFF
Farsports C5	4.2	5	4	5	4	3	5	5	4	3	50mm	602g, 726g, 1328g	24.2mm 30.4mm	Great balance between stiffness, riding comfort, and stability.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB to get 30 USD OFF
Up-Vine Pro+	4.2	5	5	4	5	2	5	5	5	2	50mm	661g, 768g, 1429g	23.5mm 29.1mm	Great balance between stiffness, riding comfort, and stability.	Check Price
Lún HYPER 3	4.1	5	5	3	5	3	5	5	5	2	46/54mm	598g, 766g, 1364g	23.2mm 28.6mm	Better crosswind stability and comfort than HYPER 2023, but much higher price and no butterfly-weave finish.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB10 to get 10% OFF
Elitewheels ENT	3.8	4	2	4	4	3	4	4	4	5	50mm	828g, 950g, 1778g	20.0mm 28.4mm	Heavy and soft but comfortable and good on flats and steady efforts.	Check Price
Elitewheels EDGE	3.8	4	3	4	3	3	3	5	4	5	50mm	633g, 720g, 1353g	21.2mm 28.9mm	Comfortable, lightweight but relatively soft compared to carbon-spoked wheels.	Check Price
Lún MEGA	4.1	5	5	2	5	5	5	5	4	1	46/54mm	616g, 782g, 1398g	20.8mm 28.1mm	The stiffest wheels I tested. Ideal for smooth roads or racing, but they are not comfortable.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB10 to get 10% OFF
Lún HYPER SE 2023	4.3	4	5	3	5	5	5	5	4	3	46/54mm	654g, 803g, 1457g	21.3mm 27.9mm	Better than HYPER 2020 in all aspects. I believe they provide better value for money than HYPER 23.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB10 to get 10% OFF
Superteam All-Carbon Ultra 2023	4.6	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	3	50mm	633g, 769g, 1402g	21.3mm 28.7mm	Not overly stiff, but responsive. Stable in crosswinds and ideal for most terrains, questionable reliability.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB to get 5% OFF
Farsports Wave	4.2	5	3	4	5	5	5	4	3	4	45/50mm	736g, 880g, 1616g	21.0mm 28.7mm	Affordable, easy-to-service, unique-looking wheels suitable for flats and steady efforts.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB50 to get 50 USD OFF
Trifox WT11	3.8	4	2	5	4	5	4	3	3	4	50mm	769g, 874g, 1643g	18.4mm 25.1mm	Affordable and comfortable, but not well assembled.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB to get 8 % OFF
YOELEO C50|50 SAT DB PRO 2022	4.1	4	3	4	4	4	5	4	5	4	50mm	705g, 830g, 1535g	18.5mm 25.5mm	Affordable and easy-to-service wheels suitable for flats and steady efforts but with too loud hubs.	Check Price
Farsports Ventoux S	4.0	5	5	4	5	3	4	4	4	2	45mm	637g, 755g, 1392g	19.2mm 25.5mm	Stiff, responsive, and premium wheels suitable for most terrains.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB to get 30 USD OFF
Elitewheels DRIVE 45mm Disc	4.0	5	5	3	4	3	4	4	5	3	45mm	562g, 718g, 1280g	21.4mm 28.8mm	Stiff, responsive, and lightweight wheels suitable for hilly and mountainous terrain. Not too fast on flats.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB to get 15% OFF
Lún HYPER 50mm	4.0	3	5	3	5	5	4	4	4	3	50mm	650g, 779g, 1429g	19mm 26mm	Stiff, responsive, and lightweight wheels suitable for hilly and mountainous terrain. Not too stable in crosswinds.	Check Price Use code CYCLISTSHUB10 to get 10% OFF
YOELEO C50|50 SAT DB PRO	4.3	4	3	4	5	4	5	5	5	4	50mm	705g, 830g, 1535g	18.5mm 25.5mm	Affordable and easy-to-service wheels suitable for flats and steady efforts.	Check Price

My scoring of the Chinese carbon road bike wheels with a note and other technical details.
The scale for each feature is 1-5 points, where 5 is the best. The rating can be retrospectively adjusted based on the comparison with other wheelsets (more about this scoring).
SCROLL HORIZONTALLY FOR MORE INFO.
¹How difficult it is to put a Tufo Comtura 4 TR 28mm tubeless tire on and properly seat it.

My Verdict

MovingSports SL1200 wheels offer one of the best price-to-gram ratios from the wheels I recently tested. They are enjoyable to ride until the wind starts blowing. They struggle in crosswinds and are not as stable. I would also appreciate it if the tubeless rim tape were already installed to ensure a flawless tire installation.

So, should you buy them? If this is your first wheelset or you’re on a tight budget and want carbon spokes, then these should make it onto your shortlist. If you’re willing to pay a little more, I’d stick with established Chinese brands that offer wheels with better crosswind stability.

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.