The Chainlink

Handlebar shim

So I want to swap bars, the new bars are just a tad small. When fully tightened on, they move up and down pretty freely(thankfully not left and right). Anyway, I tried using a beer can as a shim but it isn't quite working unless I'm not using enough, I used the whole damn can. Any other home remedies vs. buying a shim worth trying out or ones that are known to work?

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Permalink Reply by anthony nicholson on October 20, 2009 at 10:06am
as much as it sucks to pay for a little piece of metal, I'd always be worried about them shifting at an unopportune moment if I hacked up something. You probably have 25.4mm (1 inch) bars in a 26 mm clamp? If you search on amazon I noticed some of those shims for less than $10. Harris Cyclery has some nitto brand ones for $13 or so, I think.

Before you buy anything I'd stop by some bike shops, maybe they'd hook you up if they have some parts lying around. You might stop by and talk to the working bikes folks, because they seem to accumulate lots of random parts in the process of stripping and restoring various bikes.
Permalink Reply by Tiberculosis on October 20, 2009 at 12:24pm
Piece of an inner tube? Might work.
Permalink Reply by Primitive Don on October 20, 2009 at 1:07pm
I've made shims from a piece of hose clamp, found in the plumbing department at Home Depot/Menards/Ace etc. Definitely thicker than a beer can shim, and it's round already.

Permalink Reply by jen on October 20, 2009 at 1:51pm
ive had bad experiences with shims for handlebars. Bar shifted while track standing waiting for a light. I fell on my face in front of a bunch of traffic. My pride and ego were hurt pretty bad. I shelled out the money for new handle bars that fit the next day!
good luck
Permalink Reply by Fred Noinaj on October 20, 2009 at 6:13pm
Get a shim, its bike specific. Better safe than sorry. What kinda bars are you using? threadless or threaded stem(does it have a face plate?)?
Permalink Reply by spacemodular on October 20, 2009 at 9:32pm
Just set up a set of Wald handlebars (25.4mm) into a 26mm stem using the Nitto shims. $12 for steel shims that are super solid - beer can aluminum doesn't work most of the time. How much time struggling with the beer cans is $12 worth?
Permalink Reply by Alan Matejka on October 20, 2009 at 10:37pm
You could be a Hodgepodgen bodger. Just drill a hole through the entire mess and "Screw it".
Permalink Reply by Barry Niel Stuart on October 21, 2009 at 4:49pm
Is the stem meant for 26.0 mm O.D. bars or 31.8 mm O.D. bars? Most modern road and touring bikes like mine use a 31.8 OD bar. If you're using a 25.4 mm bar, you may have a tough time finding a shim that can make up the difference.
Permalink Reply by Alan Matejka on October 21, 2009 at 6:25pm
I have an aluminium seatpost that was stuck in the frame of a bike, found in the trash, It is no longer a seatpost, because I had to cut it from the inside to release it from the frame. It is great shim material. I've already used some of it for that. I'll bring some to midnight marauders saturday night. Maybe I will see you there. Alan
Permalink Reply by Alan Matejka on October 22, 2009 at 5:07am
I measures my post wall, It is 2.2mm thick.
Permalink Reply by Homebuilt on October 22, 2009 at 8:36am
Next thickness up from beer can is a little bit of aluminum flashing. Remember to never overlap the ends or your shim, as that reduces the effective clamp area to the little bit of overlap (where it's thicker).

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