My road bike is equipped with a frame / fork that has a 43 degree rake.

I'd like to upgrade the fork, but the ones that have the best deals have a larger fork rake--as much as 50 degrees.

What happens when you put a different fork on than what the frame was designed for? How does it affect handling when you go from 43 to something with a "longer" rake? Is this a bad idea?

Thanks,
Rich

My road bike is equipped with a frame / fork that has a 43 degree rake.

I'd like to upgrade the fork, but the ones that have the best deals have a larger fork rake--as much as 50 degrees.

What happens when you put a different fork on than what the frame was designed for? How does it affect handling when you go from 43 to something with a "longer" rake? Is this a bad idea?

Thanks,
Rich
A longer rake will reduce trail, making steering less stable ("responsive" to some, "squirrelly" to others).

Dave Moulton has a great tutorial on fork rake and trail on his blog HERE (http://davesbikeblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/trail-fork-rake-and-little-bit-of.html).

Your terminology needs some examination. I think you are talking about fork offset, which is measured in mm. Rake is the angle of the head tube, which also figures into the discussion. Confusingly cyclist also refer to fork offset as rake, which may cause some confusion in terms, vs. motorcycles etc... Either way, no common push bike has either rake number in the 40-50 degree range. Choppers do have head tube rake in the 40-50 degree range, in fact the 30-60 degree range. Choppers and bikes measure head tube rake from different points of reference. For instance a 70 degree head tube rake in bike terms is a 30 degree rake in motorcycle terms.

Fork rake increases push the wheel forward, without changing the pivot angle of the head tube, and that reduces trail so the bike will feel more responsive or unstable How a 7 mm change is felt would depend on whether the bike currently rides on a rail and is really stable. If not then 7 degrees will probably be adverse. Normally 45 degrees is the average trail measure, would have a trivial effect on handling, and should be available in a reasonably priced fork. Be sure to also consider the fork height, this affects trail and other factors to boot.

If you take rake out of your forks by reducing the bend in each tang it will raise your head tube, top tube etc.

Some clarification on terms:

Head angle is measured in degrees.
Fork rake or offset are different terms for the same thing. Usually measured in mm.
If a fork is curved or bent in the traditional way it is usually refered to as rake. Whereas offset is the term most often used for straight forks that are angled forward.
Trail; so called because the wheel "Trails" behind the steering axis.

See picture below.

http://bp1.blogger.com/_SZx2oaxuJSA/Rjr8CwZu14I/AAAAAAAAAbY/9Uxg9sGxXqs/s400/Trail80rake.jpg