Wheel Lacing

[Laughing Gnome]

Good afternoon. I recently purchased a brand new from rim from BMW (not cheap!). This was a Behr rim 1,85BX19 (p/n 36311233323).

I received the rim back after being laced up and discovered that the arrow was in the wrong direction. I called the place that laced it up (may I add they are a reputable shop). I shipped it back and had a reply that there is only one way to lace it and they did it correctly. They said it was an error made by Behr that etched it on the wrong side and the arrow in the wrong direction. My question to the brain trust. Is there only one way to lace a rim based on the angle of the dimples?

Don't get me wrong this is no way a bash on the place that laced it. I have done work with them before and it was great. They have bent over backwards to help me in the past.

[Duane Ausherman]

Don't know about that brand. With the Weinmann there is only one way to lace it.

Do the spokes bend around each other where they touch? Or, is there a tiny space between them?

[Laughing Gnome]

Plenty of space between the spokes. Guess I'll just chalk it up to poor quality control.

[melville]

We bicycle folk refer to the spoking pattern on a drum brake Airhead wheel as 'symmetrical,' like so:



A disc wheel goes together 'asymmetrically,' this way:



Observe how the spokes are oriented as they cross for the difference.

A rim intended for asymmetrical lacing can be turned around to make the directional arrow correct, but not one intended for symmetrical lacing.

[Duane Ausherman]

If the holes are drilled/punched the same as a stock rim, then you can't lace it backwards.