Framebuilders - Will I notice a difference in fork rake?
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invincibleone
10-09-06, 10:46 PM
I am planning to swap forks on an older lugged bike for a newer carbon unit. The original fork is 42mm rake. Will I notice a difference switching to a 43mm rake? I can't image it could cause any problems but I wanted to be certain before dishing out $300.
Peterpan1
10-09-06, 11:26 PM
Not likely. The trail change is very small and will tend to make the bike quicker handling so the only situation where it might be undersireable would be if the current geometry seems twitchy as it is. This assumes the only difference is the offset (rake is the angle of the headtube).
invincibleone
10-10-06, 11:06 AM
Not likely. The trail change is very small and will tend to make the bike quicker handling so the only situation where it might be undersireable would be if the current geometry seems twitchy as it is. This assumes the only difference is the offset (rake is the angle of the headtube).
Thank you-
I would have assumed the opposite. That a lesser rake would have made for quicker handling.
Dubbayoo
10-10-06, 12:46 PM
If you're riding 15,000 miles a year you might be in tune enough to notice that.
Nessism
10-10-06, 08:09 PM
1mm in rake difference is not noticable. One other consideration though is a difference in fork length. Most carbon forks are longer than common lugged forks so installing one will raise the front end of the bike - decreasing the steering angle and raising the bottom bracket. This will result in slowing the steering slightly. Most people won't notice this either but some may depending on what the actual length difference is.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/forklengths.htm
Peterpan1
10-10-06, 10:43 PM
Lesser rake does make for quicker handling, so does a reduction in trail. It's probably a different component in the handling, a manouverabilty and stabiliity issue. So a higher rake angle, as on bikes, does make for a better ability to pick one's way nimbly through a rock garden. By the time you are in the 68 degree to 70 degree range people feel the bike is running on rails. A V-twin touring bike is stock at 65 degrees and by the time you are at 52 degrees it looks like a chopper, but still handles ok. 45 degrees is a real long chopper, and by the time you hit 30 degrees, it may be easier to move the road. For all of these rakes there is a trail range from shimmy inducing to rides-on-rails. However the trail has basically to do with ballancing the forces on the front stearing assembly. Sorta like why you want to put the fins on the rear end of the torpedo, not the front end.