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Installed Phil's Wedges

A

acr_scout

Bicycle
Just thought I would post a thought or two about Phil's Wedges.

First, I ordered them from Murph's Kits. Got them last week and as usual, the ordering process was painless.

What I am trying to solve is two fold.  As some have mentioned there is a vibration in the bike that manifests itself in the handlebars.  Secondly, I am trying to get ride of some of wrist pains I feel.

I have tried risers and was ok with them but I was not completely happy with cornering performance.  Getting into the corners with risers is less than reassuring.  The risers did take care of some of the pain and numbness from the vibrations but I felt that the minor relief was not equal to the lack of cornering feel.

I installed the wedges this afternoon and took a very short ride of about 10 miles or so (tomorrow and will get in a 70 mile commute).  The do make the handlebars feel like they are rotated back toward the rider a little bit.  For me, at five foot nine inches, it seems to be ok.  As expected, they seem to rotate the handlebars into each other a bit giving the feel that my elbows are rotated out a little. 

What they do not do, which is certainly evident, is they do not rotate the ends of the handlebars forward.  I feel like I need that rotation so my hands lay more flat on the grips.  Right now there is a lot of pressure and weight on the outsides of my hands.

If I notice any other significant difference after tomorrow's ride, I will be certain to update my post.

Just a thought or two.

Fred
 
 
I bought a used set, waiting for them to come. I have Murph's risers on the bike too, I'm planning on stacking the wedges on top. My problem, and it's the same problem I had on my Vulcan cruiser before I put risers on, is that my right arm will start to go numb. I'm sure it's a pressure point under my arm somewhere. I will get the same feeling if I sleep on my side the wrong way. I'm a former powerlifter and while my arms are not huge, they are good sized and I think that is part of the problem.

I'm hoping the wedges will get the bars in a little better position. The risers definitely helped. I'm not real concerned about the cornering, this bike rides so much better than my Vulcan in that aspect. I can understand those who came off of a smaller sport bike to get on the Connie, but when you were on an 800+ lb cruiser, the Connie handles like a dream.
 
Disclaimer:  This is my personal experience and not an indication on the quality of the product.

After riding a 70 mile round trip commute the verdict is in.  I am taking the wedges back off. The wedges caused the pressure point on my hands in my riding form to the outside of my hand.  Inside of 10 miles I could not feel the pinky on either hand.  By time I got to work my both my wrists and my elbows hurt. This was straight up riding at 75 MPH, pretty much straight line on a fairly smooth road. On the trip home I got caught in stop and go traffic and traffic that was creeping along.  Holding the clutch in exaggerated what I was experiencing.  When I tried to re-position my hands to lay flat and straight on the grips it was too uncomfortable and it felt like low speed control being compromised.

I would like to reiterate that this is just one person's opinion and experience that I thought I would share so the public can have a fuller picture and more information to make choices from. I did email Phil about a similar topic but and relayed what I experienced with the wedges.  He was certainly concerned because when compared to other people who've installed the wedges, I got pretty much an opposite result.  Such is life.

Respectfully,
Fred
 
Good feedback Fred. Mine should be here Thursday, so I'll get them on and have a weekend of riding to try them out.
 
I've been thinking of getting a set but decided to wait until I get to NM for the winter. Thanks for the feedback Fred; now I'm looking forward to your report DanL.
 
My experience is just opposite. I picked up a used set of Phil's wedges and have had them on the bike for 2 weeks. I really like the position. It took a little getting use to and I found it triggered some unused muscles in my back.  As I continued to ride I soon adjusted. The side benefit for the 2011 model was it moved the handle bar ends out of the center of the mirrors. They are a keeper for sure.
 
Bought mine from Murph and GREAT customer service. I really like them and they cured about 90% of my hand numbness and wrist ache issues. I'm not going numb in the first 20 minutes anymore.

I would suggest them if you're having issues. As with any other such change, give them a few days riding to get used to them before giving up.

I have to say that the slightly lower Corbin seat has probably also contributed, but I think nothing will completely fix the problem until the actual angle of the grips can be changed. They're kicked back too far and need to be more parallel to each other.
 
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