I have laced dozens of wheels. I just finished swapping a hub on my buddies bike and have run into an odd problem. As I am drawing the spokes up every 2 spokes is loose.

To clarify, starting at the valve hole the spokes are 2 snug, 2 loose, 2 snug, 2 loose, etc. Its a 3x pattern.

Any idea what could cause this? All the spokes are the same length, the new hub has a slightly larger flange, but even that wouldn't explain the problem.

Could it be that I need to swap the direction of the spokes on 1 side of the wheel?

Thanks!