Originally Posted by
trinogt
About once every three rides (15-25 mile rides), I have to stop because a spoke has become quite loose. Looking at the nipple, I could almost swear it is the same one every time!
It probably is the same spoke.
Manufacturing tolerances and the rim joint mean that a brand new wheel requires some spokes looser than others to be true laterally and radially, with a slight bend in the rim some spokes will be looser still, and failure to spread the load around can result in a loose spoke between two tight neighbors.
These loosest spokes are most likely to have their nipples unscrew as they pass the bottom of the wheel and become looser still.
Are these just poorly made wheels?
Yes but it's probably a labor problem which can be fixed after the fact. Borrow a park tension meter, put a drop of oil in each nipple and its socket, bring the drive side up to a nice uniform 110kgf, and do whatever it takes to dish the wheel right.
Without the lubrication you may have problems getting the wheel to high enough tension to stay true especially with alloy nipples that have corroded.
If you can't make the wheel true with enough tension on the loosest spokes you might need to compromise and accept a wheel that has more tension at the loose spot but isn't as round there.
With enough of a bend you won't be able to make it work and will want to either bend the rim back or replace it.
Do you think they are close to being permanently fixed,
Maybe.