Thanks--that's the piece I was thinking of. Just re-read it, and it makes sense to me. Interesting point about dust caps serving as retainers to keep loose crank bolts from falling out and getting lost.

Not being an engineer myself (although I come from a family of engineers), a good part of what Brandt had to say about any given subject always goes over my head. But I love how definite he is about everything. Whether he was right or not (and I think he was generally right), he was never in doubt.