shnibop 

ok, first let me say, i'm no noob at building wheels... that said, i'm no expert either, but i've built 4 wheel sets (all last year) without incident, all are running strong after 300-800 miles.


the current build... NOS Nisi tubular rims, Campagnolo Record LF hubs, 100/120 OLD, Sapim Race spokes, 3 cross all around.

i measured the ERD myself using the "2 spokes inserted on opposite sides of the rim and measure the gap" method.

front wheel went together perfectly!! tensioned, trued, dished, spoke ends are exactly where i wanted them in the nipple.


the rear wheel however is the problem. i've got the wheel laced up, correctly but half of the spokes on the DS and NDS are "loose" (nipple no where near being seated on the rim, very loose/wobbly spoke), while the other half are "tight" (nipple seated firmly against the rim, probably close to full tension, although i haven't checked).

all the "loose" spokes are the trailing spokes (heads up on the DS, heads down on the NDS).

my first thought was that while dropping the spokes in the hub, i accidentally put DS on the NDS and vice versa. turns out i was sent the same length spokes for DS and NDS, although this shouldn't be a problem for my build... and it certainly wouldn't affect the spokes on the SAME side of the rim/hub, or it shouldn't, right?


so my question is, why would spokes of the same length, on the same side of the rim/hub be seating on the rim and different points? i should also mention that it looks like if i turned the nipples on the loose spokes all the way to the ends of the threads, it still wouldn't take up the slack.

Bianchigirll 

I think you need to put the wheel in the closet and come back tomorrow and check the lacing.

hueyhoolihan

sometimes i wonder just how many different WRONG ways there are to lace a wheel. i've done most of them by now i think. one time i had to reverse the spokes heads on the other side of the hub flange (inies to outies) to make it work, another time i didn't interweave, then another time i had the longer ones on the drive side, etc, etc, etc., oh, and then i can't remember how many times i had the valve hole at the wrong spot and the offsets on the rim reversed. ahhhhh!

mechBgon

As you know, the holes on the two flanges don't line up, they're offset. My guess is that when you laced it, you accidentally got the pattern mixed up. Start by looking at the first DS spoke to the right of the valve hole. It'll be the second one to the right*, let's call it Spoke 2. Now look at the NDS spoke that's between Spoke 2 and the valve. That one should be in a hub hole that trails Spoke 2's hole if you sight straight sideways. I suspect you accidentally have it in a hub hole that leads Spoke 2.

In that case, unlace the NDS and redo it.



*assuming your rim's the more common type, but there are exceptions

ultraman6970

+1

Retro Grouch 

Me too. I think there's another current thread on the same topic.

unterhausen

must be off a hole between the two sides. Easy to get cross-eyed at that point of the build

roobydoo

Been there, done that, had to re-lace.
My problem was, I followed the divots left on an old set of hubs, assuming they must be right. Little did I know that they must have been laced onto a rim with non-offset spoke holes where a reversed lacing pattern would have been ok.

shnibop 

Got it! As many of you suggested, I had started the first spoke on the NDS one hole over from where it should have been haha. Pulled the spokes and relaced the one side.

Thanks for the help!

SortaGrey

For sure.. been there and done that. I used to mark the holes before lacing.. then got too confident. One goof.. back to the Sharpie to color the adjoining hole.