Edge Rider Wheels

[Cassandra]

Hello quilters...can anyone share their experience with the edge rider wheels? I am considering purchasing them, but don't know if the cost justifies the gain. Thank you.

[Georgene]

Wow. I had never heard of these, so did a search and found

http://www.edgeriderwheels.com

I see they are sold at King's Men Quilting Supply http://www.kmquiltingsupply.com/

I will be very interested to hear from others who might have already purchased these.

[quiltmonkey]

Hi Georgene. I thought the edge riders were for the older longarm machines, but perhaps they are good for the newer models (e.g. Millennium) also? Or, are the wheels on the newer Millenniums just as good as the edge riders? Someone who knows, please chime in.

[dtreusch]

Do you have the old or new wheels? If you have the new wheels, why are you considering replacing them?

I considered purchasing them last year when I was having problems with my machine dragging. I worked with Mark and others at APQS for quite awhile. We finally figured out that the dragging ended was a problem on the back axle and not the wheels (I do have the new black wheels). It would have been a waste of money for me and I'm glad I didn't purchase them. Since my back axle was replaced, I've had no problems whatsoever and the machine moves like silk!!

Debbi

[Mary Beth]

I have the old wheels on my Millie...they are the brownish wheels. I think the new wheels come on all of the machines since I purchased mine...I'll say since 2005 or so. I think the newer wheels are black.

I have never used the new wheels and as far as I know, I am not having any problems with my old wheels. I did sit in on a conversation among some of our chat people at MQS during dinner one night when this conversation came up. Everyone agreed that the old wheels work fine for the money and would not change unless the old wheels became worn or non-functioning in some way.

I might add. If you get a chance to attend a longarm conference like MQS and you can schedule time to meet with other quilters for dinner or time away from the conference....it is time very well spent. You can learn so much from the conversation about your machines, your business, customers, etc. Well worth it.

[Georgene]

Thanks Mary Beth,

When reading the testimonials on the Edge Riders website, it sounds like the Edge Riders might improve performance over even the newer wheels -- supposedly providing smoother traction and more control and precision when doing designs and circles and stitching in the ditch.

I hope someone who has the Edge Riders will choose to comment and let us know first hand what they think. They are costly ($120), but if they actually improve precision and performance it's certainly worth a look.

[nora123]

I too would like to hear from users of the edge rider wheels. Are they worth the money?.

Thanks,Nora

Millennium

[tsurich]

Don't really know if this is a fair comparison but before I left the shop, movement was getting harder on the Millie. We had old style brown wheels and they had a few miles on them. We changed to edgerider and the difference was amazing. Part of my reason for stopping with them was arm/back just hurting more and more. After the new wheels I thought well maybe I can still do this. My wheels on the Liberty are too new for me to justify the change over but when they are older, I think I will change to edgerider unless there is something else on the horizon.

[chuckster46]

OK, you have dragged me out. I have the Edge Rider wheels on my Milli that came with the new black wheels. I have had them for over a year. I like them very much. I can not really qualify the difference in that it is difficult to make a side by side comparison. I know that when I made the change I was happy that I had spend the money. It may just be the "Tim the Toolman" effect. I like the design of the bearings on the Edge Rider wheels. Signifcant, it is all in the feel of the operator.

I can tell you that the early design of the Edge Rider wheel had an issue in that the material would take a set and the wheels would develop a "bump" spot if you let the machine set in one spot for a period of time. I have not had this problem with my Edge Riders.

I would put this in the perspective of judging fine wine or the differenct between the feel of a Mercdes and a BMW. If you have the old brown wheels I would tell you to make a call and get either the new APQS black wheels of the Edge Rider.

You will like either of these.

Chuck

[Jhend]

What Chuck said. I love my Edgeriders. I had the new black wheels for about a year and did feel a difference with the Edgeriders. Easy to know when they need to be cleaned since they are white.

[smorris]

Hi everyone

Earlier this year I had a customer call me to discuss upgrading her Ult 1 machine to a "lighter" machine - perhaps a Liberty as she was experiencing neck and shoulder pain.

I encouraged her to purchase a set of new wheels, bolts, cams and softmounts and try them first before purchasing a whole new machine as she loved her Ult 1 which was about 6yrs old.

Well I ended up without a new machine sale but a very very happy customer . She spent a couple of hundred dollars. A few months later she has added a CQ to her Ultimate 1 and it glides like butter and feels just as light as it did before the CQ addition.

The new APQS wheels have finer bearing inside them which makes them run smoother, the softmounts distribute the weight of the machine head from back to front more evenly which is also good for the stitch regulator, and replacing the bolts and cams will also help with adjusting the wheels properly especially if the thread inside the original camm has become burred.

Dawn posted some great new instructions last week on adjusting the table and setting the wheels which are very helpful.

Sue in Australia

[Cassandra]

I ordered the wheels, received them and installed them. They are FANtastic!! Wish I had spent the money earlier. Great investment especially if you use the machine every day. Smooth mmmmmm. I use this comparison ...With the black wheels it was like quilting through a cold cube of butter and now I am quilting through melted butter. Should have done this a year ago.

[Georgene]

Cassandra,

How old is your machine?

This is exciting.

Thanks for sharing.

[Sparkle]

My husband just installed the Edgerider wheels on my 2000 Ultimate II. I have completed one quilt with them--and they are so nice!

I had the dark brown composite wheels before, and they seemed "hard". It's difficult to explain the "feel" of the Edgerider wheels except to describe them as "cushy-buttery smooth". With the dark brown wheels you seemed to feel a hard edge in turning manuvers.

Wheels make a big difference. Just like different brands of tires on vehicles. I like Michelins on my car as opposed to the Goodyears which seem to have a "hard bounce" to them. Michelins are softer--smoother....oops! didn't mean to get off on tires--but, it's a good comparison really.

The Edgeriders are like the cushy ride of Cadillac as compared to the bounce hard ride of some of the SUV's;)

[Georgene]

I think you've sold me.

We have Michelin's on all our vehicles and although I have an SUV, it's a Cadillac.

Now to prioritize my spending so I can get the edge riders.

[quiltmonkey]

Get those edgeriders, Georgene. I know you have a brand new Milli (same time as me) so let me know what you think after the install.

So far I really like my factory stock black wheels. I have them adjusted to be as loose as they can be on the carriage and also on the rails. It's pretty smooth (pinky quilting) for me. I like it loosey goosey, but not in my caboosey.

But I'm still curious anyway.

[Georgene]

Speaking of wheels being loose....

When I first put my machine together, I was not getting smooth round circles. It was hard to maneuver curves. I found out when my rep came to check out what might have been damaged in shipment, that my wheels were TOO LOOSE. Tightening them up made a world of difference.

Now, to test it, I grab the machine "Tutu" by the handles and give it a tug-- first left then right. If it doesn't feel loose, I know the wheels are snug. because before (when I couldn't do circles) it had a lot of give and felt wobbly.

I'm satisfied with how my wheels are responding currently, but there is nothing wrong with improvement. So I've got those wheels on the horizon. But I've got lot of other tools I want to buy first.

[Patch]

Hmm..... is this maybe because the wheels are sideways that people have so many problems with the eventually and they had to make the white ones? I wonder if Lenni will need anything like that? Just a question. Just a thought, before I make the investment... someday.

[Stagecl]

I just purchased edgerider wheels for my millie ...I won't install them until I get back from vacation...later in August. I can't wait to try them out.

Cheryl

[SandraC]

Can the edgeriders be installed on the Libertys???

[mrmquilt]

What is everyone doing with the black wheels?? I have the

old brown wheels and even the black wheels would be a

upgrade.

Michele

[LynnQuilts]

Sandra, you can put them on the Liberty. You get the wheels for the Ultimate 1, not the Millenium.

[Gretchen]

Put my wheels on about a month ago, well actually DH did. Love, love LOVE them. What a huge difference they made. I had the older style brown wheels and prefer to keep them quite loose. Now it is a silent smooth ride.

[Melanie Rouse]

Okay, I'm sold, but when I went to order from Kingsmen, it said that I needed to specify whether my channel lock was old style or new style?

I made that mistake once when ordering an acrylic template and got the wrong one-- my machine had the 1/4" foot and I got the template for the older foot. Needless to say, it doesn't work like it is supposed to.

I got my millie in 2003. Does anyone know if I have old style channel lock or new style????

[SonjaHammond]

Melanie:

I would call APQS and give them your serial number and let them tell you. I have a Millie and my serial number is on the throat. This way you will know for sure.