Quote Originally Posted by CrazyCarl View Post
Multispeed bicycles that use cassettes (which I think most do) don't use these kinds of bolts to fasten them to the hub but slide on to the hub in grooves more like clutch plates. I know the Shimanos work like this and believe the Campys do to. What kind of bicycle uses these kinds of bolts for their rear sprocket?
CC
Sorry. My fault for asking around bicycling-types. I pointed this out to them and they said that although they don't have sprockets held with bolts, the principle still applies to the tabs or splines that connect the sprockets to the hub: If the spokes loosen or break, the chain stresses these splines and end up damaging them. This is due to the chain not pulling straight or something.

I have never owned or ridden a bicycle we were very poor when I was young...in our house we thought knives and forks were jewellery...for Christmas I was given an empty box and was told it was an Action Man deserter...

I still don't really like bicycles, although I recognise how efficient they are. Just consider: On the energy from one 2 oz Scotch egg, a man can travel for miles, at the speed of a leaping panther, with the elegance and grace of a 2-ton Walrus.