Thank you for the response. I reexamined the setup in my mind and your first point describes a lot. I will nee to take another look at the setup but it seems that it would be dangerous to try without the wedge if I wanted the stem raised. On the other hand, because the stem was all the way in to the steerer tube the wedge still seems to be potentially more bad than good because in my mind the wedge is a less balanced hold than the bearings and/or allen bolt (though it is lower).