Bicycle Mechanics - cassette screw fell out?

I removed a SRAM 9-speed cassette to move it to another wheel and the thin screw holding the bottom 7 cogs together fell out. It would seem like it would have been bouncing off the spoke ends from where the hole for the screw lines up with the hub but I never experienced any issue with it actually preventing the cassette from turning on the hub. It took a few minutes to get all the sprockets and spacers properly aligned on the new hub, but its all back together now. Is there any reason to replace this screw, seems like it could get loose again and cause problems?

Thanks

Don't worry about replacing the screw, your cassette will be fine as long as the lock ring is properly tightened.

Sram uses these screws to hold the cassette together as a convenience for their OEM customers. You see how long it took you to get all the sprockets lined up and onto the hub along with the spacers. Those minutes were a minor inconvenience, but imagine what it would be like doing it hundreds of times a day on a bike assembly line.

Don't worry about replacing the screw, your cassette will be fine as long as the lock ring is properly tightened.

Sram uses these screws to hold the cassette together as a convenience for their OEM customers. You see how long it took you to get all the sprockets lined up and onto the hub along with the spacers. Those minutes were a minor inconvenience, but imagine what it would be like doing it hundreds of times a day on a bike assembly line.


+1. I've never had a problem with a cassette that I've customized after taking the screw(s) out. As FB said, it's an OEM convenience.

Removing the screws makes it easier to clean all the cogs thoroughly, too.

Thanks, I figured it would be OK, just kind of surprised there were no issues as a result of this screw being loose, maybe for years. Its a wonder it didn't jam into a spoke end at some point and stop the hub from freewheeling properly.