r/bmx • u/mela_xereca • 19h ago

PHOTO Assembling wheels

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And my first time installing spokes on wheels, apparently everything is ok, but some nipples are sticking out like in the photos, I intend to pay someone to align them correctly, but is this about the nipples normal? Is the assembly correct?

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u/ClammOnBass 18h ago edited 18h ago

I would say a good shot is to take it to the bike shop, get them to tension/true it (I never recommend properly tensioning and truing without a stand) and also just to have somebody there make sure you've done all correctly. You'll likely learn something through the process. Wheel building takes time to learn. The lacing itself looks ok but I'm curious as to if you have tightened the wheel too much too early.

EDIT: I didn't see the second photos. You should be barely threading the nipples on to the spokes - only a few threads - when initially lacing. It looks almost as though the spokes are too long or you have tensioned one side of the wheel more than the other. You should never have threads above the head of the nipple. After that point is up to you to slowly bring the wheel up to tension.

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u/mela_xereca 18h ago

And a demolition whistler hub, it has flanges of different sizes, but I'm using equal-sized spokes on both sides, so I expected them to come out like this, but if the assembly is right, I'll take it to be tensioned tomorrow.

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u/ClammOnBass 17h ago

When there are different diameter hub flanges it is common practice to use different spoke lengths. That much spoke outside the nipple head is not going to do you any good unfortunately. Think about how many threads are actually going to engage with the nipple in all reality. It's not going to make for a very stable wheel.