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Is the wedge is a marketing gimmic?


Woodsprinter

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Is the wedge a marketing gimmic? The guy who wants to sell his 06 VLX that is full loaded EXCEPT the wedge. See his response below:

"This was our second Malibu. The first was the Wake 23 hull which was originally designed for skiing. It needed a wedge. But the gas consumption really hurt draging that thing around. This Wake 25 hull was designed specifically for wakeboarders. The wedge is a marketing gimmic. None of the pros or anyone who rides a lot uses them because they break, and they suck gas. Weight and hull are the most important attributes to wake size and shape. Why don't Mastercraft or Nautique even offer such nonsence."

I don't think I agree with him because the wedge is a must for wakesurfing?

I am interested in his boat. It meets my all specs except the wedge. I believe that I can add floating wedge and bracket (drill?). It will run about $800-$1,000, right.

http://www.onlyinboards.com/Details.aspx?ID=818006

Edited by Woodsprinter
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I do not agree either. I have the wedge on my 07 VLX with the Wake 25 hull, and I see a big difference with and without the wedge. I do notice that if you raise it too much, it washes out the wakesurf wake, but without it, both the wakesurf and wakeboard wakes are significantly smaller. For what I use my Malibu, I would not get one without it.

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I was always a fan of ballast for best wakeboarding wake. However, I started using ballast and wedge in shallow (less than 10ft) of water and got good results. I think the wedge was a lot of benefit for wakesurfing, but I only wakesurfed once or twice.

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Not having a wedge is a resale disaster. Sorta like ordering a F150 without a tow package. Whether or not you are going to use it, it's something that most every potential buyer will ask about. So you should have that feature, especially where it's a feature that distinguishes the boat from other brands.

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It's no marketing gimmick it's been proven to work. The whole point of the wedge is that it adds 1000-1200 lbs to the rear of the boat without additional ballast bags anywhere. I've surfed without the wedge before and it's much harder to dial in the wake and takes alot more time messing around with ballast configuration (not to mention much more wieght). I would say I use the wedge as more of a fine tuning device that a crutch for lack of ballast.

Adding the floating wedge will be a minimum of $1500 in parts not including labor (unless you can find one used somewhere). I also agree it's a big resale hit if you don't have a wedge.

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I have the Wedge. And of the dozen or so friends who own Malibu's, we all have it. But the only ones who use it are surfers. None of the boarders or foilers mess with it. It's strictly for resale.

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None of the pros or anyone who rides a lot uses them

I may agree with that. I know some really good riders who own Bu's that don't use their wedge because it messes up the wake. This is only if the boat is heavily weighted.

Anyone can definitely order any boat w/o a wedge.

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I think he is just trying to down play the importance of a wedge because the boat he is trying to sell doesn't have one and he doesn't want to lose a potential sale over it.

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Is the wedge a marketing gimmic? The guy who wants to sell his 06 VLX that is full loaded EXCEPT the wedge. See his response below:

"This was our second Malibu. The first was the Wake 23 hull which was originally designed for skiing. It needed a wedge. But the gas consumption really hurt draging that thing around. This Wake 25 hull was designed specifically for wakeboarders. The wedge is a marketing gimmic. None of the pros or anyone who rides a lot uses them because they break, and they suck gas. Weight and hull are the most important attributes to wake size and shape. Why don't Mastercraft or Nautique even offer such nonsence."

I don't think I agree with him because the wedge is a must for wakesurfing?

I am interested in his boat. It meets my all specs except the wedge. I believe that I can add floating wedge and bracket (drill?). It will run about $800-$1,000, right.

http://www.onlyinboards.com/Details.aspx?ID=818006

You can bet he would be singing a different tune if his did have a wedge. something along the lines of "greatest thing since sliced bread"

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I think he is just trying to down play the importance of a wedge because the boat he is trying to sell doesn't have one and he doesn't want to lose a potential sale over it.

^^^what he said^^^

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Whatever. As if it's not a damn nice boat just because it doesn't have a Wedge. I can find a dozen other reasons not to buy it that make more sense..... like the Illusion tower, the fiberglass swimstep, the vapor blue, etc.

Frankly if it had the bow ballast in it, I'd say it's good to go.

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Whatever. As if it's not a damn nice boat just because it doesn't have a Wedge. I can find a dozen other reasons not to buy it that make more sense..... like the Illusion tower, the fiberglass swimstep, the vapor blue, etc.

Frankly if it had the bow ballast in it, I'd say it's good to go.

Some people actually prefer these items on the malibu boats.

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Which is why I added the line at the end too.

I prefer the fiberglass swimstep too. The point was that it's a reason why people may not buy the boat. And IMO it's as good or better reason than buying because the boat doesn't have a Wedge.

The Illusion.... well, thats a whole different thing. My local dealer did like 3 bushing repairs this week alone.

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Which is why I added the line at the end too.

I prefer the fiberglass swimstep too. The point was that it's a reason why people may not buy the boat. And IMO it's as good or better reason than buying because the boat doesn't have a Wedge.

The Illusion.... well, thats a whole different thing. My local dealer did like 3 bushing repairs this week alone.

Ya I had the front nutsert fail on both sides on my last tower. As far as I can tell the XS is way better in that regard. I know what you're saying about the wedge as well, if I didn't surf I wouldn't use it either. Unfortunately the "Wedge" is a highly marketed item that most people associate with Malibu and expect a boat to have one. There are people out there that don't care.

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I think he is just trying to down play the importance of a wedge because the boat he is trying to sell doesn't have one and he doesn't want to lose a potential sale over it.

And we have a winner. Whether it makes a difference or not is sort of a mute point when it comes to making a sale. He most likely knows that a really high percentage of people looking at Malibus look for one with a Wedge, & he's more than probably heard it over & over again....."Oh, it doesn't have a wedge. Thanks, but no thanks."

And on that hull, the free floating wedge makes a huge improvement, both for surfing & boarding. From my perspective, that boat is worth a couple grand less to me because it would be the very first thing that I'd add.

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I think he is just trying to down play the importance of a wedge because the boat he is trying to sell doesn't have one and he doesn't want to lose a potential sale over it.

And we have a winner. Whether it makes a difference or not is sort of a mute point when it comes to making a sale. He most likely knows that a really high percentage of people looking at Malibus look for one with a Wedge, & he's more than probably heard it over & over again....."Oh, it doesn't have a wedge. Thanks, but no thanks."

And on that hull, the free floating wedge makes a huge improvement, both for surfing & boarding. From my perspective, that boat is worth a couple grand less to me because it would be the very first thing that I'd add.

I wouldn't ride any without one, love it.

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Yeah, pretty much agree with most posters. It's only a marketing gimmick if you are trying to sell a boat without it. Other than that, lots of people that use it really like it. My boat wake needs it to get the shape I like.

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Tell him you love the boat......and dicker until you get your price and then say......"if he'll put the wedge on it you'll buy it"

If he won't, subtract 2 grand and start the process again.

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Tell him you love the boat......and dicker until you get your price and then say......"if he'll put the wedge on it you'll buy it"

If he won't, subtract 2 grand and start the process again.

Yeah, It is what I plan to do...

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Tell him you love the boat......and dicker until you get your price and then say......"if he'll put the wedge on it you'll buy it"

If he won't, subtract 2 grand and start the process again.

Plus1.gif

This is the approach I would take.

Now, having said that, I have to say that I have an 06 VLX with a manual wedge that we almost never use. I'm not sure that we ever deployed it this entire season. We mostly wakeboard and we prefer the wake shape made from full ballast tanks. When we have been wakesurfing we have done so with and without the wedge. Some have preferred the wake with it and some without it, but I don't think we ever got any wakesurfing in behind our boat this year.

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Tell him you love the boat......and dicker until you get your price and then say......"if he'll put the wedge on it you'll buy it"

If he won't, subtract 2 grand and start the process again.

Yeah, It is what I plan to do...

I hope you are also planning on buying the one listed for $250 in the classifieds!

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