There have been one or two instances of spokes becoming loose on some of our dual-sport bikes in the past. Some of the posts concerned our Qingqi QM200GY-BA (Qlink XF200).

Straight away criticism was heaped upon the quality of the metal in the spokes, tyre rims, etc. As far as I could see these components looked magnificent: Triple-wall alloy rims with huge flanges, flawless anodised finish, stainless spokes of more than adequate thickness for the weight and performance of the bike, etc.

Yesterday I had a few beers with an old and experienced trials and enduro rider and mentioned this to him. He examined the bike, was suitably impressed in general, and could see nothing wrong with the set-up.

I said that I had to re-tighten a few spokes slightly and he assured me that this is common in alloy rims. The nuts and threaded parts of the spokes take quite a long time to bed into the alloy of the rims and would eventually settle down and remain tight. Apparently alloy starts up quite soft and work-hardens with use.

Nothing to worry about, he said. (Mind you he had a few beers by then...) .