Watched a shop owner rebuild a hub with a coffee can lid as a shim

I was out in Denver last month and stopped in this tiny shop off Broadway. The owner was fixing a loose cassette hub on a old touring bike and didn't have the right shim. He cut a piece off a Maxwell House coffee can lid, punched a hole in it, and slipped it in there. Has anyone else seen a hack like that hold up long term?

2 comments

2 Comments

blake4321mo ago

Used to think shimming stuff like that was just asking for trouble down the road. Figured the metal would wear weird or just mess up the bearings eventually. But seen this hold up in a couple different builds now and honestly surprised me how well it works. The coffee can lids are thin enough to not mess with the tolerances too much but tough enough to last a good while. Guys like that have been fixing bikes with whatever is laying around for decades, probably know what theyre doing better than I ever will.

perry.jessica1mo ago

Take it you've run that setup for a while yourself? How many miles you got on those coffee can shims before you had to swap them out, or are they still going strong?