[Guide] Wheelbuilding + Spoke Size Reference Table

[MCHardmanUK]

Forward
This topic is here To act as a wheel building guide
As a reference for anyone wishing to know what size spokes they need for any given wheel.Submitting Information
If you wish to submit and information regarding past, present, future wheelbuilds or even ones you just know offf the top of your head as long as you know the Rim, Hub, Number of Holes, Lacing and Spoke Size for that wheelbuild then contact me via PM or leave it in the topic and I'll update the table.

Requesting Information
If you wish to request information regarding what spokes you need for a certain wheelbuild then please provide the following information: Rim
Hub
Front or Rear
Number of Holes
LacingThankyou in advance

The Theory Behind All Things Wheels

Wheel Building
There are four common lacing patterns used for building wheels: Radial - Weakest lacing pattern that is currently used, only to be used for racing.
2X - Not very strong, recommended for racing or as a front wheel build if your smooth
3X - Strong but not the strongest can be used perfectly fine for most riding and rider types.
4X - Strongest lacing pattern that is currently used.In general the lower the crossing pattern you chose to build your wheel the less rotational weight - so radial built wheels will have the least rotational weight whereas 4x built wheels will have the most rotational weight.

To work out the size of spokes you need for your wheel build you will need to know the ERD (Effective Rim Diameter), various dimensions of your hub flanges and the lacing you want to use, whether it be radial, 2x, 3x or 4x.

WARNING: Never use different holed rims or hubs to build a wheel the spoke tension will not be distributed evenly throughout the rim or hub flanges and it will lead to a big mess.

WARNING: If you don't know what you are doing or are not confident enough to build a wheel don't, take it to a shop and get a qualified wheelbuilder to do it for a small price.

Rims
Seeing as your wheels come into contact with the floor the lighter they are the better as this decreases the roling resistance, but don't go too light, you don't want to end up with a exploding wheel.
Rims come in four drilling sizes: 28 - Designed for racing, not recommended for street unless your super smooth.
32 - Designed for racing but can be used for light street.
36 - Should be used as a front rim for pretty any type of riding, only to be used on the rear if your smooth.
48 - Used as a front or rear rim for street use, ideal if your a bit of a fatty or just ride hard and fast and crash a lot.Rims come in four rim surface finishes: Black anodised
Black Duralectra
Machined
Chrome If you are looking for the best stopping power than I suggest you buy a Chrome rim or if you really want a black rim and can afford it then a Duralectra rim as the rim surface finish does greatly improve the stopping power of a brake. Please remeber that your brakes need to be properly set up to achieve there maximun braking potential.

Hubs
There are four types of hub:
Fix Freewheel Standard - The hub is very basic in design and is the cheapest, it has a threaded part on the left or right to screw a freewheel on.
Flip Flop - The hub is very basic in design and is the cheapest, it has a threaded part on the left and right to screw two different sized freewheels on.
Cassette - This is the most expensive of all the hubs and the freewheel mechnism is built into the hub body. You will need this type of hub to run mirco gearing.
Freecoaster - This is the most complex of all the hubs with the freewheel mechanism built into the hub body as well as another mechanism that allows the hub to dis-engage when pedalled backwards. This is ideally suited to flatland riding but is becoming more popular in street and park riding. These hubs can be quite expensive and the engaement is very slow, they have a tendency to break more often than other types of hub and in most cases they are not designed for hard, agressive riding and the axles break a lot.

Spokes
There are three types of spoke: Plain guage
Double Butted
Straight PullSpokes come in different thicknesses or guages to give it its technical name: 10
11
12
13
14
15I suggest buying quality spokes, there not really that expensive but you will notice they build a better wheel, have better tension and keep there tension longer. Stay away from titanium spokes as they don't build a good wheel, they flex, undo often, snap, don't save much weight and are way overpriced.

Nipples
Nipples are what go on through the holes in the rim and thread onto the ends of the spokes to increase or decrease the tension. Nipple come in all shapes and sizes and you must make sure that the nipples you buy are the right size for the guage of spoke you are buying. Stay away from coloured aluminium nipples as they will rounded real easy, just stick to the basic braze ones.
Spoke Length Calculators
BEST SPOKE LENGTH CALCULATOR EVER (http://www.thehousebmx.com/Spoke.html) - Simply the best spoke calculating tool out there, so simple and easy to use, pick your hub, rim, number of spokes and lacing and thats it.
Beyond Bikes Spoke Length Calculator (http://www.beyondbikes.com/bb/tech/?section=spo) - Very basic and easy to use.
Senet Spoke Length Calculator (http://users.senet.com.au/~mitchell/misc/html/spoke.htm) - Very basic and easy to use.
WheelPro Spoke Length Calculator (http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/spokecalc/) - Very basic and easy to use.
DTSwiss Spoke Length Calculator (http://www.dtswiss.com/spokescalc/welcome.aspx?language=en) - Quite advanced use if you know what your doing.
Spoke Calculator (http://www.bikeschool.com/spokes/)
Damon Rinard Spoke Length Calculator (http://www.damonrinard.com/spocalc.htm) - There are two version: Spocalc Express - Very basic easy to use
Spocalc - Very advanced use if you know what your doing this ones a nightmare to use if your a novice.Wheelbuilding Guide
G-Sport Wheel Building Masterclass (http://www.gsportbmx.co.uk/custom/wheel_build/wheels.html)

[MCHardmanUK]

Spoke Size Reference Table

[Diego]

4 cross, interlaced under the 4th

Firstly you are going to need to have a few basic tools:
Flat headed screw driver
Adjustable wrench to remove the free wheel from hub

And of course spokes


a hub


and a rim


removing the freewheel:


I also employed a younger brother to pass me spokes etc, yours may be of any age and may or may not laugh at the word nipple.

You are going to need to make sure you have the correct size spokes for your wheel, a guide is available at http://www.bmx-forum.com/bmx-tech-faq/37248-guide-wheelbuilding-spoke-size-reference-table.html

Using an Odyssey Hazard rim and an Odyssey Hazard Cassette hub I needed 184mm spokes for a 4x pattern.



First start by attaching the outbound spokes to the hub, we call these outbound because the heads on the spokes are facing the outside of the rim. A spoke is placed in every other hole on the hub. The other ends are then placed into every other hole on the same side of the rim (which is every fourth hole), starting with the hole immediately left of the valve hole. Thread a nipple onto each spoke, giving about 3 or 4 turns to each, an important point to note at this stage is that every nipple must receive an equal number of turns, so once you have chosen a desired number or turns STICK TO IT, do not be tempted to give any extra turns because your wheel won’t be true and even later.



Now its time to turn the wheel over to complete the outbound set on this side, you will notice how loose the spokes are and probably have a few centimetres of give around the rim but that will sort itself out later. This is where it becomes a little impractical to insert all the spokes onto the hub at once so I did them one by one after this point, but to each his own. Place an outbound spoke in the hole on the opposite side of the first set in the hub hole to the left of the one on the other flange (see the picture to get what I mean). The rim end of these spokes should be placed on the left of the existing spoke from the other side of the rim.



When that’s complete it should be looking something like this:



Next you need to put the ‘spin’ on the wheel, this should be done AWAY from the valve hole, as can be seen in the picture below, that is anti-clockwise from the rim.



Now the inbound spokes are applied, these are called inbound because the heads of the spokes face inwards, towards the inside of the rim. It’s a little tricky to explain exactly where they go so I have illustrated on one of my photos where the spoke should cross and which hole to place it in, in words the spoke is placed in one of the free holes, then count 8 holes on the hub from the inbound spoke (the inbound spoke being numbered 1, and the final hole being the 8th) follow the spoke that is protruding from the 8th hole on the hub, on the second left from where this spoke meets the rim the inbound spoke should be placed:



This spoke should be interlaced under the fourth (as a variation it could be interlaced under the 3rd), where this spoke crosses the fourth spoke it should be bent (not too heavy handed so as not to put a permanent bend or kink in the spoke).



When that’s finished the wheel should now look like this, so it’s time to turn it over and repeat this same procedure on the other side of the wheel:



Now the final in bound spokes have been threaded in the wheel is now completely spoked, it only remains to tighten them up and replace the freewheel. If you made sure each spoke received the same turns throughout the whole procedure the wheel should need a minimal amount of truing.



To tighten each spoke now start at the valve hole and go around the wheel giving each spoke about 4 turns when this is finished add more turns as/if required. Replace the freewheel and there you go.



And finally the completed wheel should look like this:



Any comments or suggestions PM me

thanks to Smickus for the rim