Looking for input…
Every cassette I have seen has a pinch bolt to tighten the bearing. However, I notice doing this causes the free spin to be less free.
Obviously, they are designed with a bolt for a reason, so what is the thinking on this?
Run without them, with them, snug not tight (I have done this and usually I lose one at some point).
Blue Loktite (not too much) + sufficient torque to clamp the bearings without inducing flex might work.
The Righetti cassettes have 2 set screws on either side of the head of the pinch bolt to keep it in place
I have also wondered about how tight to make these bolts. I considered two things, the axle spinning freely, and also if the bearing should be able to rotate in the cassette when the axle flexes. No idea what matters or what’s right, but I tightened them as much as I could before they started to make the axle spin less free.
To adjust the preload on the bearing and also tighten the bolt as much as I wanted, I used thin washers/shims between the two halves of the cassette. This takes a couple tries to adjust it how you want it, but after that you have nothing to worry about and you can just put regular nylock nuts on.