Originally Posted by
FBinNY
IF The pattern is OK, is everything is right except for the placement of the valve hole, then it's very fast and easy to relace, without taking the spokes from the hub.
Get some string, or dental floss, and tie each pair of spokes together at the cross. Then keeping the wheel flat on your table, remove all the nipples. Move the rim around 2 spoke holes, so the valve is in the right place, and the right/left or (top/bottom with the wheel flat) spokes are going to the right holes in the rim. Then connect the nipples working the crossed pairs together.
If you've finished, tensioned and trued the wheel, the easier option is to drill a new valve hole in the right place, but I know that nobody here on BF would be able to live with a wheel that had two valve holes. Perish the thought and forget that I dared suggest it.
BTW- you really don't have to do anything at all. Having the valve hole at a cross will not affect anything, and you won't have issues pumping (test for yourself). BITD it wasn't rare to see newbies with the spokes crossing at the valve hole. Back then we used to karate chop our Silca pumps to remove them, and the worst that would happen is they'd bang into the cross "safety net" and bounce back a bit.
The ONLY drawback to having the spokes cross at the valve is that snooty riders will point it out.
Maybe even easier than string or dental floss is using those twist ties, like for closing plastic food bags. They work well for me. And yes, the first pair of wheels I ever built had the valve hole in the "wrong place", but I still ride them.