Originally Posted by staehpj1

Not a ty[ical experience, but...
I had a run of spoke breakage on a newish bike. It was multiple spokes at a time a couple times and a couple singles on a long heavily loaded tour (TA). I don't remember the exact count. Nothing seemed really wrong that would have caused it. A mechanic looked at the wheel and asked me if I had been shifting the chain off of the big cog into the spokes. I said no. He gave me that look. You know the look, like yeah right (thinking, you are an idiot). I said really never not even once. The bike is only a few months old and the chain has never been shifted off the cogs into the spokes. He showed me where the spokes were all chewed up at the bends. I had no explanation. Then he picked up the cassette to put it back on and the long thin bolts that held the bigger cogs together on that cassette all slid out. Apparently they were never tightened and could freely slide out and rub the spokes right at the bends.

I don't know how it went unnoiced when the cassette was pulled off at least 3 previous times. Any way he tightend the bolts and replaced all the spokes that looked chewed up and retensioned everything and it was fine from then on.