Wheel Building

In an older post I wrote about how I typically build wheels. I thought it was a bit hard to follow, so I'm going to include some pictures this time. First make sure your rim is straight, and that you have the correct length spokes (I like to use a spreadsheet called spocalc to find which length I need). Now you can start lacing the spokes to the rim:

The picture shows the first group of spokes laced to the rim. Basically you just thread a spoke through a hole in the hub flange, and then secure it to the rim with a spoke nipple. You want to skip every other hole on the hub, and skip every 3 holes on the rim (not counting the valve hole for the inner tube). Also make sure the spokes are exiting the hub on the same side, and that you lace them to the holes on the rim that are closer to the side you're working on. Once you have the first group of spokes finished you can start with the second:

The spokes from the second group be laced in the opposite direction from the spokes in the first group. Just how many spokes they cross will determine the crossing number (this wheel is a 4 cross pattern). The crossing number is actually determined by the length of your spokes, so longer spokes will have higher crossing numbers (generally a 32 spoke wheel should be 3 cross, and a 36 spoke wheel can be 3 or 4 cross, so measure your spokes with this in mind).

The spokes in the second group should also twist over the last crossing spoke from the first group as shown above. Now you can lace the remaining spokes in the second group, leaving every other hole empty at the rim:

 

Then you can start the third group. I like to start with the spoke nearest the valve hole to make sure that it's positioned correctly between 2 parallel spokes:

The rest of the third group is laced like the first group, and you should now leave every third hole empty at the rim in addition to leaving every other hole open at the hub flange:

The last group of spokes is laced like the second group. Just remember to twist around the last crossing spoke from the third group. Here is the wheel after lacing all the spokes:

Now is a good time to screw the spoke nipples the same amount on each spoke. I turn them until the threads on the spoke are just barely hidden. This allows me to tension the spokes more evenly later on. I start tensioning each spoke by one full turn each with a spoke wrench:

 

After every round of tensioning I check to see if the rim still spins true (or mostly true, since I'll fine tune it later). I can check this by putting the wheel on a bike frame and watching it wobble between the brake pads. I also have an old fork that I like to stick in a vice for doing front wheels.

To true a wobbly wheel, you need to loosen the spokes on one side of the wheel while tightening spokes on the other side:

This should bring the rim back to center. Don't get carried away, half turn increments are plenty.

Once the wheel is mostly true and the spokes have good tension, you need to stress relieve the spokes. Basically just grab pairs of spokes in your hands and squeeze as hard as you can:

If you're using new spokes, they will probably lose some tension so you'll have to tighten them up again. Basically you need to keep tightening and truing the wheel in small increments until the spokes are nice and tight, and the wheel spins true. This takes some practice (and patience), so don't be surprised if your first few wheels come out wobbly. To verify if your spokes are tight enough, you can pluck the spokes from a good wheel and compare how they sound to the ones on your wheel. Their pitch should be similar (spokes emit a higher pitch as they get tighter).