Mixup of spoke wheels

[Pepijn]

Hi all,

I’m in the progress of rebuilding a ‘81 Special and wanted to switch to spoke wheels.
To do so I bought a used 18” rear wheel (alu shouldered rim) and a front wheel with a low profile chrome rim.
I bought 2 new 2.5x18” XS Performance rims for both wheels and 18” SS spoke sets. The seller told me he had the front 18” rim custom made (the same for the front spoke set).

This is my first time lacing wheels, but I have the feeling it has gone horribly wrong. I had to bend the last spokes quite a bit to fit them and it seems like the “nuts” do not fall into the dimples.

What am I doing wrong when you look at the pictures?

 

[RustiePyles]

Did you have all your spokes in place before you started putting nipples on? If you bent a spoke that spoke is most likely ruined. Its not unusual for the nipple heads to be seated weird, that I wouldn't sweat to much. As long as they are all tight and the rim runs true. Wheel lacing can be a huge pain in the ass, many motorcycle shops wont even do it.

 

[RC4MAN]

One trick to lacing wheels is always insert the inner spokes first before the outers.

 

[jetmechmarty]

I never did that job, but yours looks like it went wrong.

 

[WideAWAKE]

Follow this video.

shows you how to align the hub with the rim and lace it correctly.

lacing a basic wheel is pretty simple, can be a little confusing the first time but once you do it, it’s not much of a mystery.

there is no need to bend spokes to get em laced. Also, until it’s tight the heads are gonna stick up a bit but will settle down when torqued correctly and evenly.