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! (the wear from the wrench).
These are Oval Concepts 524 wheels. It is the rear wheel, a 24 spoke, and it always happens on the non drive side.
I did a complete tensioning (by sound; not very scientific!) of spokes both sides, then followed up with a truing. This was maybe 20 miles ago. Of course, tension and truing had to be done together at that point.
Previously, I would find 2 or 3 spokes that were loose, all on the same side and adjacent. Now it is just this one spoke. When I tighten it up (4 1/2 turns!), it brings the wheel back into perfect true, and off I go.
Though it's not a huge issue, it is still something that shouldn't have to be done on this frequency. Are these just poorly made wheels? I did notice they are not sold anymore, Oval has number 530 and up now.
Do you think they are close to being permanently fixed, or is it a sign of scrappage? lol

The spoke tension is likely too low on both sides of the wheel but that's just a guess without knowing what the tension is.
It's also possible that the rim is bent and/or out-of-round.
The Park TM-1 for about $60 is a good investment.

trinogt, Next time mark the spoke with perm. marker or something. If it's the same spoke it could be a thread issue. The last step I'd take would be to release tension on all of the spokes (no tire/tube) and check the rim's trueness.

Brad

+1 on the retensioning of the wheel. You might also need to re-true/re-round the wheel as well.

In addition, check your tire casing and look for bulges in the sidewall, or just manufacturing flaws that make part of the tire bigger/fatter than the rest. This can cause more fatigue on the rim/spoke in a specific area. Still, the tension is sufficient, the spoke shouldn't come loose, but you will feel a "thud-thud-thud" repetition in the wheel when coasting on a smooth downhill.

If a spoke loosens that fast then it's either very low tension over all -- low spoke count wheels need higher tension than 32h wheels.

OTOH it could be as simple as a stripped nipple, though usually these creak and pop like crazy when you try to true. Ar this point I'd remove and replace the, painting the spoke threads with something that's reduce the nipples ability to spin freely. On newly built wheels I use a very sticky grease, but in a pinch you can use beeswax, (Burt's Bees lip balm) rubber cement, latex paint, a dab or nail polish or bike touch up paint (don't over apply), or even paste car wax. What your looking for is anything that will let the nipple turn, but is sticky enough to keep it in place when there's no load.

At some point, (sooner, rather than later) I'd properly retension and align the entire wheel. Odds are you hit a pothole which brought a section of rim in a bit, so those three spokes can't be tightened as much without creating a low spot. That can be managed but there will always be a zone of lower tension there.

If it is indeed the same spoke i would suspect that either the spoke or the nipple has stripped or deformed threads which are letting go under impact.

Assuming no damage,

...it is also possible that the rim has an extrusion defect that results in a loose spoke at the hole - when trueness is given priority over tension for that wheel.

It's very common with entry level rims intended for factory assembled bikes.

If that's the case, you can have the wheel re-worked with priority given to tension - or replace rim.

=8-)

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.

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.

Maybe.

What a coincidence, I am currently dealing with a wheel that has exactly the same behaviour.
About every 15miles or so, I'll find a single spoke has loosened.
After truing the wheel, I find that that same spoke has lower tension than the others.
This would fit the loose=unscrewing theory.

I suspect, that the rim is dented slightly under that one spoke, thus when perfectly round tension is lower there.

Yesterday attempted fix; used rim puller(rare discontinued tool) to pull out theoretical dented area. Then re-trued the wheel. Spoke tensions now measure more evenly.
1 ride so far and it hasn't loosened up; will see if the method remains succesful after a few more days...

All of this makes great sense to me, and some I have given thought to as well... I went to a local Kestrel dealer, and the salesman informed me that they have been having many problems with 524 and 530 wheels from Oval, and end up giving another set to the owner. (probably happen to the new wheels eventually too). I just can't imagine what the flaw would be? I mean, I'm sure these same spokes work fine on another manufacturer's wheel? Maybe it's the rim itself? Who knows... But, they have to last me until I can get some Mavic Ksyrium SL's! I have sent an email to the store that sold me the bike, waiting to see what they say...


xenologer, what wheelset do you have?