Bicycle Mechanics - lacing help

hello recent 2day my rim has bent and i have elaced my wheel and i am buying a new oddsey rim of my friday but there is one prob my hub is 48 spoke his rim is 36 spoke what i want to know is is this possible to lace a wheel like this? also how do i find out the spoke lenth i need?

Possible, yes. Recommended, no. First, spoke length will be difficult to determine using mismatched hole combinations. Second, your wheel strength will be compromised. That being said, a little trial and error should get you close to the right spoke length. Why not get the right rim?

because im buying a odessey rim of my friend for £10 and i havent got enuff money for a brand new one :(

Or a more practical hub with, say, 36 spoke-holes? Unless you ride with an elephant in the circus, 48 spoked-wheels are really not necessary.

The smart choice is to save until you have enough money for the right parts or look for another used part that has 48 holes ore a complete wheel. Trying to make something work that is mismatched like this can be unsafe.

In that case, I would try lacing it up with the spokes I have, remembering that every 4th hole on either side of the hub stays empty. It should become evident a little past halfway if the spokes need to be shorter or longer. Good luck!

could someone also tell me what patters i would need for a 48 hole hub 48 hole rim?

Probably 4X.

... your wheel strength will be compromised.

Not really. The rim will be as strong as a regular 36H build, which usually is strong enough. Hub flanges are just about only at risk in radial builds, so assuming a 3X pattern there isn't much to worry about there either.


...spoke length will be difficult to determine using mismatched hole combinations.

Right, spoke length will require some thought and/or tinkering. Also trueing and tension will offer a bit more of a challenge, as equal number of nipple turns will no longer offer a good baseline true and round.

You should bring your bike into your local bike shop and have them look at it

..my hub is 48 spoke his rim is 36 spoke what i want to know is is this possible to lace a wheel like this?

Sure thing, it'll require a bit more work though. You'd get 3 holes filled, one empty, 3 filled, one empty ASO. One option is to lace it in a crow foot pattern, another is an ordinary 3X.


.. also how do i find out the spoke lenth i need?
Well, Damon Rinard's spocalc contains some pointers on spoke lengths for mismatched combos, but I don't trust those as his method only gives you one new compromised spoke lenght for the whole build. Apparently it's close enough for low-flange hubs though.
On Sheldon Brown's site there's a page about how to calculate crow foot spoke lengths for mismatched wheels if that tickles your fancy.
Or, you can have a look at this post (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=6880505&postcount=15), where you'll find a rough description of my pen-and-paper approach to guesstimating spoke lengths for mismatched hub/rim combos.

iv decided to get a sunrim big city.. 48h could somone also tell me how to find out what pattern i need weather its 3x or a 4x for spoke lenth cheers

..could somone also tell me how to find out what pattern i need weather its 3x or a 4x for spoke lenth cheers

Either will work, and the theoretical advantage goes to building up the new wheel with the same pattern as the old one, and sticking to the same spoke orientation at the hub.
Apart from that it's kinda important if it's a high-flange or low-flange hub. 4X on high flange can lead to spokes overlapping spoke heads, which, if nothing else is a pain if you have to replace a spoke later on.

thank you could you please tell me what a high flanged hub is please is this wear the walls of the hub stick out more? thanks

iv decided to get a sunrim big city.. 48h could somone also tell me how to find out what pattern i need weather its 3x or a 4x for spoke lenth cheers

I've built a few 48 spoke 700c tandem wheels. If I was building one today I'd make it cross 5.

A 20 inch wheel is a little different because you also have to consider the angle where the nipple enters the rim. If the angle it too acute the spokes will break at the nipples. I'd probably build your wheel cross 3.

I wouldn't worry about the high flange vs. low flange thing. I doubt you'll find a low flange 48 spoke hub because there won't be enough room for that many spoke holes.

thank you could you please tell me what a high flanged hub is
If you look at the pic of my mismatched build in the link I posted you'll see a high flange hub. Compare that one to what you've got. But you're right, it's about the diameter of the hub where the spokes attach.

hello again iv decided to get 184mm spokes and have a 4x pattern the reason for this is that my front bmx wheel is a 48 hole hub and has a 4x pattern so i might aswell just copy it by eye then i cant seem to go rong this way :)