25.4mm bars in 26mm clamp - to shim or not to shim

[Bodhbh]

Just messing about getting a fit on a bike I'm gradually building up, I've got several quill stems and sets of drops - with partially mismatched clamp widths. This beer can shim thing...

Is it safe or not. I've googled this a bit and there's a whole mix of opinions. Any practical experience? The verdict of the interweb seems mixed, unless you ride a fixie, then it's perfectly safe.

My main concern is to the best of my ability googling, beer can's are only 0.1mm thick, so you're looking at 3 wraps of beer can. Seems like alot of potential for slippage.

It'll be just till I get a fit and then can spend some money on the proper stem.

 

[4F]

@Andrew_Culture did this and I am sure when he spots this he will tell you that it did not work out well...... Imagine getting a slippage as you are honking it or going fast downhill

 

[Profpointy]

Nothing wrong with shim - a perfectly acceptable engineering practice. I even have packs of "shim stock" (ie sold as such) - but it needa to be done properly ie right overall thickness. it can still slip, but so it can without shim.

 

[Bodhbh]

@Andrew_Culture did this and I am sure when he spots this he will tell you that it did not work out well...... Imagine getting a slippage as you are honking it or going fast downhill

Yes I found some of his posts on this when I was searching the forum, but unless I misunderstood it he was shimming the steerer and the mismatch was a fair bit more. But I'm sure he'll be along

 

[Bodhbh]

On consideration, for 7 quid ordered some proper stainless steel shims from Hubjub. Still be interested how well the beer cans work, but guess will be an academic question now.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Depends how how much you value your teeth and the first few layers of skin on your body.

For the sake of a few quid I'd recommend buying a purpose made shim. Despite the fact you may think that cornering at speed is done by leaning the bike having handlebars that move in direct correlation to the front wheel also helps.

 

[Bodhbh]

Depends how how much you value your teeth and the first few layers of skin on your body.

What I figured in the end. It's a bike I've not finished fettling - the indexing is not spot on, the chain may slip, I'm not used to the toe-overlap, the single pivot brakes aren't that great. Enuff to worry about while I get a comfy position to be bothered about whether the bars might start rotating.

 

[Smurfy]

A piece of aluminium drink can should work fine if it is the right thickness.

 

[andrew_s]

Three layers of soft drink can at 0.1 mm will work fine.
Getting it fitted without rolling the edges and having to start again or cutting your finger on it is less easy

I'd use the Nitto shim. Problem Solvers make them too, but Hubjub are cheaper