Patent ID: 7871347

Claim:
A bicycle rear sprocket assembly comprising: a sprocket carrier including an annular mounting boss and a plurality of attachment members extending radially outward from the annular mounting boss, the plurality of attachment members being circumferentially spaced apart from one another relative to the annular mounting boss, with each of the attachment members having an inner end portion and an outer end portion disposed radially outwardly of the inner end portion relative to a rotation axis of the sprocket carrier, at least one of the attachment members having a pair of space maintaining projections extending in an axial direction therefrom; a first sprocket including a first attachment portion with at least one attachment aperture and a first chain engaging portion with a plurality of first teeth, the first sprocket being disposed on a first axial side of the attachment member; a second sprocket including a second attachment portion and a second chain engaging portion with a plurality of second teeth that are fewer in total number than a total number of the first teeth of the first sprocket, the second sprocket being disposed on a second axial side of the attachment member, the second attachment portion having at least one tab that extends radially inward along the at least one of the attachment members between the pair of space maintaining projections, and the second attachment portion having at least one attachment aperture located radially outwardly and spaced radially outwardly apart from the at least one tab; and a third sprocket including a third chain engaging portion with a plurality of third teeth that are fewer in total number than a total number of the second teeth of the second sprocket, the third sprocket being disposed on a second axial side of the second sprocket, the first and second attachment portions being attached to the outer end portion of the attachment member using a common fastener that extends through the attachment apertures of the first and second attachment portions and the outer end portion of the attachment member, the tab having a free edge spaced radially inwardly from the common fastener by a distance at least as large as one-half of a maximum transverse dimension of the fastener measured in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis, the pair of space maintaining projections extending from the at least one of the attachment members axially past the tab of the second sprocket towards the third sprocket, the space maintaining projections being spaced radially outward from the inner end portion of the least one attachment member and radially inward of a center axis of the common fastener with the space maintaining projections disposed closer to the center axis of the common fastener than the annular mounting boss.