Building my first set of wheels up and wondering if these spokes are too long - they're for sure protruding from the end of the nipple, but the rims are double walled and the spoke end is still about 1.3mm lower than the inner wall of the rim - not sure if I should be worried that the rim tape might bulge inward that much? Would tubeless tape/gorilla tape bulge less and reduce the likelihood that the spoke ends will rub the tape/tube? Should I just get a shorter set of spokes (this is really only an issue on the drive side of this wheel so not really a big deal).

MY opinion is that the spokes could be about 2mm shorter and then be considered "perfect" (whatever that is). Generally the top end of the spoke "should" line up with the nipple's screwdriver slot bottom. Andy.

I agree with Andrew that a little shorter would be perfect but with double walled rims and still enough thread length to tension the spokes enough you are good. No need to do anything else. For a single walled rim, it would be a problem.

If your spokes are up to tension and you've stress-relieved them, I'd say they're fine. But much more protruding and you won't be.

The double-wall will definitely aid the rim strip in keeping the spoke ends from protruding.

I grabbed a DT spoke & nipple
Screwed the nipple all the way on by hand.
Depending upon your exact spoke & nipple, you are out of threads or nearly so.
No room for adjustment IF it needs to be tightened.



EDIT- Has the wheel been brought up to proper tension & true?
IF so, you should be OK.
IF not, you might be able to use spoke washers to take up a little bit, but you may simply be better off buying new spokes & keeping the old for a future project or sell them. (Craigslist or??)

If you haven't run out of threads so you can still do a tweak for future truing, don't sweat it. What you've got is just fine. Yes, you did a few turns more work building these than you had to, but that is water over the dam. Yes, the wheel is a few grams heavier. And yes, if folk pull up your rim tape, you might get scolded.

So you could treat your rim tape like a proper lady her skirt. Edges kept neat and proper. Or become a monk and instead of meditations, Dremel each spoke end down to flush.

Not quite up to tension yet, I'm guessing another half to full turn to get there, I haven't trued or dished them yet so they might need to move one way or the other but this is on a three speed hub so the tension/length difference between the two sides is not extreme. The bottom of the screwdriver slot is 2.5-3mm from the inner rim wall so my spokes are already ~1.5mm past that - I'm thinking maybe I should go 2mm shorter? If it's only maybe OK I'd probably rather just get $12 of spokes and re-do the one side then get most of the way through tensioning and truing and discover I have to do the same thing anyways.

That may be simplest in the long run.
I've got a bundle of 16 spokes sitting on the shelf, so you aren't the 1st to get too long.

Thinking about it a bit more...
Maybe run all the long spokes until they bottom out and then see if you can bring the wheel to true/tension with the other side spokes?
You should be able to get an idea quickly.

I had a similar situation recently. And it too was the first set off wheels I had ever done. I was trying to lace them 3 cross when they should have been 4 cross.

48 spoke tandem wheels?

No. Just an old set of wheels that the spokes were so rusted they were as weak as they were ugly to look at.

I wouldn't leave them as is. If that is a rear wheel then you only need to buy half the spokes shorter 2 mm than your shortest side.
Then your shortest ones move to the long side. I had to do this a couple times.

Shorter spokes have been ordered! Thanks all for the input

I would leave it as is. I see no issue here. better that much too long than too short.

The OP said it was a 3 speed hub, so a good chance they purchased all the same length.

No. The spokes could be a couple millimeters shorter, but since you're using box-section rims, it doesn't really matter. The threads in the nipple are fully engaged, and that's the important thing. If you were using non box-section rims, the spoke projecting past the end of the nipple could easily puncture the inner tube, and must be filed or cut flush with the end of the nipple. But with a box section rim, as long as the spoke end doesn't project past the rim bed, there's no problem.

Too late now, but instead of new spokes, you can shorten the existing spokes and have more threads added as needed. Any decent bike shop will have a spoke threading tool.

No here uses spoke washers? I only buy double wall rims so I have the room. Washers have worked for me.

Wrong! Many decades ago, my middle-school shop teacher told us, "... if it's too short, just splice it; if it's too long, you're out of luck."