Nullius

After about 150 miles on one of my first wheelbuilds I've realized that I laced the spokes wrong, but putting them in the holes with the opposite offset on the rim. Jobst Brandt says that this will cause premature spoke failure, which is something I don't want since this is supposed to be a touring wheelset. I'm not sure what I should do now. I would ideally like to just relace the wheel using the same spokes and cross-pattern, however I'm not sure if the damage has already been done to the spokes near the nipples. I'm open to just buying new spokes in payment of an idiot tax, but I'm still not sure how I'll rebuild the wheel, since I know you're not supposed to relace hubs in a different pattern, which I guess leaves me with the valve hole in the wrong spot.

Has anyone else done this? Does anyone have any creative solutions for me to fix it?

urbanknight

When you take the spokes off, check the tips for any bends. If they're not bent, you should be fine. When you rebuild it, you can keep the pattern on the hub and just move the spokes down 1 hole on the rim. Just be sure the direction you move them still has the stem in between parallel spokes.

Al1943

Good advice above. Go for it.

Deanster04

Just think you will be getting a 100% improvement in your wheel building capability by redoing the wheel and going through the retruing process. Be careful and detension the wheel slowly by 1/2 turns until the wheel is loose. If you detension the spoke one at a time is can cause problems. You should have no problem redoing the wheel...a glass of wine, good music,...heaven.

Bobby Lex

Q: What's the worst thing that is likely to happen if the damage is already done?

A: Spokes will start popping prematurely and you will end up having to replace them one by one as this happens.

It's not like the whole wheel is going to explode or something.

So, go ahead and rebuild the wheel using the same components and you'll be fine.

Bob

Michel Gagnon

There is not that much difference for the spokes between the right way and the wrong way. I think most of the damage would either show on the nipples (marked where they fit in the rim) or on the rim. And in the long run, you're twisting your rim by pulling it in strange directions.

As others have said, go ahead and correct the situation. While doing so, check the rims for cracks near the spoke drillings. Since the wheels are fairly new, I doubt there would be any damage.

pmseattle

I messed up the first wheel I built, and had to relace. A few years later it´s still fine.