Welcome to part one of our wheel building guide. Here, Richie from Dales, explains how to lace up a 48 hole BMX wheel.

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Tools:
Spoke key
Flat-head screwdriver
Lube (optional - some people like to put a drop of oil on the head of each spoke to prevent seizing)

Just before we start - when looking at the rim, you will notice that (on most modern rims) the spoke holes are off-set. This is so that the spokes go into the rim closer to the hub flange from where they originated. This makes your wheel stronger. It seems pretty obvious, but if you're sitting with the wheel on your lap, never lace a spoke from, say, the drive-side hub flange to a spoke hole that's oriented towards the non-drive side.

1) Adding your Valve Hole Spokes:
You don't need to do this on normal wheels, but since there are so much more spokes in a 48 hole wheel, here's a good tip to help you get the lacing right.

Sit with the rim on your lap so that you can see the valve hole. The holes on either side of the valve hole will be offset - one's higher than the other. Always start with the lower one (which is usually to the left of the valve hole).

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Put your first spoke through the hub flange from the outside, so that the head of the spoke faces outwards (se pic). Spokes that are laced like this are called 'internal' spokes.

Lay that first spoke directly across the hub (see

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previous pic) so that it lies between the two flange holes on the opposite side of the hub. From the first hole to the right of the spoke, count back nine. When you get to the ninth hole, slide another spoke through (again from the outside in). These are your valve hole spokes.

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Put these two spokes through the holes on either side of the valve hole, making sure that the spoke that's in the hub flange nearest you goes into the spoke hole to the left of the valve hole. Screw nipples onto them.

A quick note on adding the nipples: just give them two to three turns at this stage. You don't want to tighten them all the way up, other wise the last few will be way too tight and you'll deform the rim.