Originally Posted by
shants
exactly. you can ride safely on the track without a lock ring, frankly. hell, being stronger on a track just makes the cog tighter.
I will definitely admit that the 6 bolt system is likely sufficient and am comfortable with backing off a bit in the degree of my criticism of it, but I don't agree with your critique of the knuckles. Each of the three knuckles is quite thick and is about an inch long. You're not going to be shearing one off, especially with any forces distributed between three of them. One thing I really like about the knuckles is that, by taking rotational forces off of the bolts, the threaded bolts themselves only have to deal with the minimal lateral forces. Their only job is to keep the cog on. Given that I seriously cannot imagine a circumstance under which a knuckle would shear, I like the fact that I'll never end up with a sheared off bolt stuck in my hub. I hate dealing with those damn extraction sets.
basically - while the 6 bolt system probably won't be doing anyone harm, i think the level system is designed with more variables in mind.
I doubt one of the knuckles would shear completely, but I do think they'd deform. It strikes me as not all that different from the Miche cog carrier, and those are steel on steel and they develop play. Also, I'm not sure I buy that the bolts are only getting lateral forces, if they're torqued down hard enough to do any good in that direction they're getting any front to back that's going on too.
I don't think it's a bad system per se, I just feel like it's a solution looking for a problem. I just worry that in 10 years it's going to be like any other jingus proprietary stuff that's going to be impossible to find and $$$ when you do (see also: 10 pitch, 151 chainrings, French thread anything), while ISO drilled cogs aren't going to be a big deal to get your hands on.