December 2, 2025

Wheel Build 101: Lacing & Truing Your Excel Rim

Table of Contents

Why Build Your Own Wheel?
Excel Rim & Spoke Basics
Tools & Supplies You’ll Want On Hand
Prep: Hub, Rim & Spoke Layout
Lacing Step-by-Step (Typical 3-Cross)
Truing: Lateral, Radial & Dish
Spoke Torque & Blue-Loctite Etiquette
Shop Excel Rims, Spokes & Tools
Safety Notes & When to Call a Pro
Tell Us Your Wheel-Build Story

Why Build Your Own Wheel?

If you ride hard enough, long enough, the day comes when a rim gets bent, a spoke goes missing, or you finally decide your bike deserves that Excel bling. At that point you’ve got two options:

Drop the parts at a shop and hope they’re not backed up until next riding season, or
Grab a truing stand, some patience, and learn to lace and true it yourself.

Building your own wheel sounds intimidating, but with the right tools and a methodical approach, it’s very doable in a home garage. The payoff: a true wheel, correct spoke tension, and the strangely satisfying feeling of spinning your handiwork and seeing it run dead straight.

In this guide we’ll walk through:

How Excel rims and spoke kits are laid out
Tools you actually need (and which ones just make life easier)
A step-by-step lacing process for a typical off-road wheel
How to true the wheel without chasing your tail
Blue-Loctite etiquette so you don’t glue everything into oblivion

Excel Rim & Spoke Basics

Excel rims are the go-to upgrade for off-road and motocross riders because they’re light, strong, and available in sizes and finishes that actually look good. On WeSellPerformance.com you’ll find popular 21 x 1.60 front rims in both Takasago Gold (SKU EXCICG408), Takasago Silver (SKU EXCICS408), and the burlier A60 Black (SKU EXCICK608).

To go with them, you’ll want matching spoke and nipple kits sized for your hub and rim:

Always match:

Rim hole count (e.g., 36H) to spoke count
Rim size and drilling to your hub and bike model
Spoke gauge and bend style to your intended use (off-road, MX, dual-sport, etc.)

Check the fitment notes on the rim and spoke listings, and your service manual. That’s your gospel for spoke length, pattern, and torque values—this article gives general guidance, not bike-specific numbers.

Tools & Supplies You’ll Want On Hand

Here’s the core pile of tools that makes wheel building way less frustrating:

Truing stand (or your bike’s axle in a rigid stand with something fixed for reference)
Spoke wrench sized for your nipples – or a dedicated tool like the Excel Spline Drive Tool (SKU EXCSDN-01W8)
Spoke torque wrench, for example: Excel Torque Wrench Set – 10pc w/ Box (SKU EXCTWS-210AC)
Medium-strength (blue) threadlocker, if approved by your rim/spoke manufacturer
Small flat-blade screwdriver or pick (to help start stubborn nipples)
Marker or masking tape (to mark high/low spots while truing)
Calipers or a steel ruler (for checking offset/dish against specs)
Tire irons & bead lube (for tire removal/installation before and after the build)

Safety gear (don’t skip this stuff):

Safety glasses or goggles
Mechanic’s gloves
Closed-toe shoes or boots
Hearing protection if you’re using air tools

Optional but nice to have: a good workbench, a bench vise to hold the truing stand or axle, and a bright shop light. The more stable and well-lit the workspace, the less chance something goes sideways.

Prep: Hub, Rim & Spoke Layout

Before the first spoke goes in, take a few minutes to prep:

Clean the hub. Remove old spokes, scrape off corrosion, and clean the flange holes. Check for cracks or elongation around spoke holes; if anything looks sketchy, stop and replace the hub.
Inspect the new rim. Verify size, hole count, and offset drilling. Look for shipping damage, flat spots, or cracks around the nipple holes.
Sort the spokes. Many kits have inner and outer spokes (and sometimes different lengths). Lay them out in separate piles so you don’t mix them mid-build.
Locate the valve hole. This becomes your “reference zero” as you lace the first set of spokes. Some lacing patterns place a spoke directly adjacent to the valve hole; others leave a little more room. Follow the pattern recommended for your bike/rim combo.

If you’re replacing a damaged rim but the old one is still intact enough to study, snap photos of the spoke pattern from both sides before you cut it apart. That reference is worth its weight in gold.

Lacing Step-by-Step (Typical 3-Cross)

There are a ton of specific patterns out there, but most off-road 36-hole front wheels use some flavor of 3-cross pattern. The exact pattern depends on your hub and rim, so always check the factory or Excel documentation first. What follows is a general workflow:

Start with inner spokes on one side.
Insert the inner spokes through the flange from the inside out, spaced according to the pattern (often every other hole). Drop the rim over the hub and feed each inner spoke into its corresponding rim hole near the valve hole area. Thread nipples on just a few turns—barely more than finger tight.
Add the outer spokes on that side.
Route each outer spoke over or under the appropriate number of spokes (for a 3-cross, it typically crosses three others) and into its rim hole. Again, thread nipples on lightly and evenly.
Flip the assembly and repeat on the other side.
Install the inner spokes first, then the outers. Be patient—this is the “looks like spaghetti” phase. Don’t worry about it being straight yet; just get all threads started.
Even up the nipple depth.
Once every spoke has a nipple, go around the wheel and snug each nipple until roughly the same number of threads are showing or the same amount of spoke is protruding inside the nipple. This gets you to a consistent baseline.
Rough in the tension.
Using your spoke wrench, bring the whole wheel up to a light, even tension by turning each nipple the same amount (like 1/2–1 turn) in a repeating sequence around the rim. You’re not at final torque yet—just enough to pull the slack out so the rim starts to “behave.”

At this point the wheel should hold itself together and spin without giant wobbles, but it won’t be perfectly true. That’s where the stand and patience come in.

Truing: Lateral, Radial & Dish

Mount the wheel in your truing stand (or on the axle, supported between rigid blocks) and adjust your pointers so they just barely clear the rim.

Check lateral runout (side-to-side).
Spin the wheel slowly and watch where the rim moves closer to your side pointer. Mark the “high” side spots with a marker or tape. To pull the rim away from the pointer, tighten spokes on the opposite side of the rim and/or loosen those on the side that’s too close—in small increments, usually 1/4 turn at a time.
Check radial runout (up-and-down).
Move your pointer to the top or bottom of the rim and look for hops. To pull a low spot out (rim too far from the pointer), tighten the spokes on both sides in that region. To correct a high spot (rim hitting the pointer), loosen them slightly. Again, work in small increments over a group of spokes.
Verify dish/offset.
Many dirt wheels are centered over the hub, but some are offset. Compare your assembled wheel to factory specs or to a known-good wheel. If the rim sits too far to one side relative to the hub, you’ll adjust tension bias from one side of the wheel to the other in small, even changes.
Work up to final tension.
Once lateral and radial runout are within spec and the dish is correct, use your spoke torque wrench to bring the wheel up to the manufacturer’s recommended torque. Do this in a star or repeating pattern around the wheel so tension stays even.

Take your time. Rushing the truing process is how you end up chasing a wobble for an hour or, worse, pulling flat spots into a nice new Excel rim.

Spoke Torque & Blue-Loctite Etiquette

A couple of key rules keep your wheel strong and serviceable:

Use the torque value in your service manual or torque wrench instructions. Excel’s torque wrenches are adjustable; you set them based on the value recommended for your bike and spoke size, not a random number from the internet.
Chase tension, not just “tightness.” The goal is consistent tension around the wheel. A spoke that “rings” higher than its neighbors may already be over-tight.
Don’t overtighten trying to fix small cosmetic wobbles. Forcing a tiny cosmetic bend out of the rim at all costs is a good way to crack the rim or the hub flanges.

On to the spicy topic: blue Loctite.

Check the manufacturer’s instructions first. Some rim and spoke makers prefer light oil or dry threads only. If they say “no threadlocker,” believe them.
If threadlocker is allowed, use medium-strength (blue) only. Never use red on spokes unless the manufacturer explicitly calls for it—it’s overkill and makes future service a nightmare.
Less is more. Apply a tiny drop to the engaged thread area (where the nipple and spoke will sit when tightened), not the whole spoke. Wipe off excess and keep it out of the nipple slot and off the rim.
Let it cure fully before riding. Follow the cure time on the bottle so the threadlocker actually does its job instead of just becoming colorful grease.

Threadlocker is there to help maintain tension, not to make up for bad truing or incorrect torque. A well-built wheel with proper torque is the real hero here.

Shop Excel Rims, Spokes & Tools

Ready to build your own wheel or freshen up a tired one? Here are some of the Excel pieces you’ll find at WeSellPerformance.com:

Related Brands

We carry wheel and spoke upgrades from:

Excel — Takasago and A60 rims, spoke & nipple kits, torque-limiting spoke tools, and accessories for serious off-road and MX wheel builds.

Safety Notes & When to Call a Pro

Always support the bike and wheel securely. Never work on a wheel with the bike teetering on a flimsy stand.
Wear eye protection. Spokes can snap, nipples can strip, and you don’t want any of that headed for your face.
Respect torque values. Over-tightening can crack rims or hubs. Under-tightening can let spokes loosen, leading to wheel failure.
Re-check spoke tension after the first few rides. New builds settle in. A quick re-tension is cheap insurance.
Know your limits. If you can’t get the wheel true, you see cracks, or you’re just not confident, it’s absolutely okay to hand it off to a professional wheel builder.
Warranty & usage disclaimer: Modifying wheels, tires, and suspension can affect manufacturer warranties and how your bike behaves at speed. Always follow your owner’s manual, applicable laws, and ride within your limits—on the road, track, or trail.

Tell Us Your Wheel-Build Story

Did your first Excel wheel build spin perfectly on the first try, or did you invent new swear words along the way? Tell us your best (or worst) wheel-building stories in the comments below!