Spoke lacing patterns most often used when building wheels.

When building wheels, one has the choice to lace the wheels in a number of ways, or lacing patterns.

Radial lacing

No spoke crosses any other spoke and is connected directly, straight to the rim. This is fine for front wheels on rim-brake bikes. This uses the shortest (and lightest) possible spokes.

1-Cross

Each spoke only crosses one other spoke between the hub and rim.

2-cross

Each spoke crosses 2 other spokes on its way to the rim. This is typical for 24-hole rims and hubs.

3-cross

The most common and popular spoke lacing pattern. Each spoke crosses 3 other spokes on its way to the rim. This is considered “standard” by many wheel builders and is the strongest way to lace a wheel. This is typical for 32 and 28-hole rims and hubs.

2:1 lacing

Common on today’s deep-section road-racing wheels, there are twice as many spokes on the drive side of the wheel as on the non-drive side. Often the drive-side spokes are laced 3-cross and the non-drive side spokes are arranged radially.

There are other patterns in existence, but these are scarcely used.