You can see here that it's not the end of the stalks which are the problem... it's where the stalks bend to level out. This area is quite close to the back of the wheel already...
IMG_0627 by
Gothe Falcon, on Flickr
IMG_0618 by
Gothe Falcon, on Flickr
So when I reworked the stalks, I actually heated up the mid section and moved the bend away from the back of the wheel, but left the end of the stalk in the original position (within reach of your fingers)...
IMG_0629 by
Gothe Falcon, on Flickr
IMG_0630 by
Gothe Falcon, on Flickr
This had the effect of aligning the top of the stalk more parallel which the back of the wheel spokes (giving me the room I needed for the paddles) without loosing any functionality of the stalks (by being too close to the back of the wheel at the bend)... or too far away from your finger tips (Had I just bent the whole thing back).
It's less a bending of the stalks... and more a twisting of them, I s'pose !??
The tape etc you can see in the pics, was there to help bend both halves of the stalk together, the same amount (the back of the stalk can be removed for wire access).
These Taurus paddles aren't actually as chunky as they look... as in... they don't take up much space at all. It's just that when you pull the stalks towards you, there's not a lot of room left (before you even fit the paddles), in that area around the stalk's bend.
Hope that made sense !??
D