Chris W.

Thanks for those replys Ash and Luke they were a great help and I understand a lot clearer now why the spokes are different lenghts and why they are laced in different patterns, Thanks guys.

Ah now I understand, so by lacing it 3 cross I was effectively making the spokes to short which was bringing the hub flange closer to the centre of the rim, which is why when I built it 2 cross it was fine. I guess I was blatantly missing something after all then, thanks for straightening it out for me.

I know why they need to be different sizes just why do they have to be built different patterns?

Hi there, I recently built a mod 20" wheel today and built both sides 3 cross but when I had finished one flange was directly in the middle of the the rim straight down the centre and the other flange was way further out as if the spokes were too long, someone suggested to me to build one side 2 cross so I did and it worked fine. So, my question is what is the difference between radial, 2 cross, 3 cross (and I've heard of 4 cross) lacing patterns, are some stronger because of the amount of spokes they overlap? Also why would one side need to be built 3 cross and the other 2 cross why not make spokes certain lengths so both could be 3 cross or both 2 cross? Sorry if I'm blatantly missing something here, Thanks in advance, Chris.