steppinthefunk 

Hello all,

In an impulse buy I was able to get my hands on a polished aluminum straight blade fork with what looks like a ZERO rake. I've searched around and have read that most straight blade forks have the legs coming off at an angle but this thing looks like it is aligned straight with the head tube!..

I bought it cuz it was cheap and I thought it would look cool on my bike but I'm wondering what the handling characteristics would be like with a zero rake...

here's a pic of the forks profile - judge for yourselves:

Thanks,
Jason

max-a-mill

looks quick!

dutret

sluggish but you can probably do barspins which plenty of people seem willing to sacrifice handling for.

sniks

Yeah bar spins!

pitboss

how many points do bar spins land you for a cat3 upgrade?

queerpunk

put it on and see how it rides.

Shiznaz

Team it up with the vertical seat tube ass hatchet track bike that gets posted every now and then.

dutret

I wonder if there is enough clearance for it. If there isn't you will be forced to get good at half bar spins or wheelies if you want to get anywhere... or you could just ride in little circles.

the pope

First buyer's remorse post of the new year! Yahoo!

Serendipper 

-50

pitboss

cat6 by summer's end!

stachemaster

in the summer of 2005 i toured on a track bike with a negative rake fork. (not much - maybe 5deg past 0) it was accidental, a stick broke and got stuck in my front wheel the week before i was going to leave. it was a straight blade "bikeworks" fork, and the steer tube near the crown race was bent. i tried everything to bend it back, but to no avail.
so i rode it, it was twitchy, but i could still ride straight, and nohanded. the only thing to watch out for was the 3-4 inches of pedal overlap it gave me. i really did enjoy it. so put it on, you will probably be fine.

marqueemoon

Unicycle!

12XU

My CUSTOM Mercian was built with a 0 degree rake fork; beat that! They're in the process of building a proper 33 degree replacement, this time with a classic bend. They built me a "straight bladed track fork with tight clearances" just as I ordered... Oh well, last time I bend to the demands of fashion.

visitordesign

if you were a pro racing in monstertrack you'd still win regardless of your fork and its rake. chew on that. then cry. cry like a little boy while the reality of inconsequence sets in.

BostonFixed

Pics? of the bike/fork?

12XU

Posted before, but certainly worth multiple views of its hearth-brazed goodness:

Landgolier

700c flatland bike!

Serendipper 

The Mercian is tits, as usual.

/me end derail.

I think zero rake is sexy.

Retem

0 rake is nice but you need a wicked h/t angle to compensate for the handling issue
dig up an old tommasini pursuit bike and strap that to it should be nice and easy

btw there is a 55cm tommasini pursuit /tt bike on refried cycles for 450 ish

yo 12x hows your hands feelin on the road

12XU

This steez is track only, and even there it's unbelievably twitchy. I couldn't do a standing sprint comfortably hence my piss poor performance on the track. Don't mind the fact that I never train..

Retem

rollers man rollers when you watchin the tube

12XU

Another reason I've hardly ridden this bike in the past year is because of the insanely expensive tires I put on there without telling myself that they're race only. The last thing I wanted to do was wear through one of these bad boys and have to replace it, so off to the 'bay. I'll be replacing them with some "training" tubulars that I'll also use for races.

Retem

nah just get some cheap clincher wheels for roller training and pop a set of those conti trainer tires on it probably cost ya 200 bucks but ya know better than wasting you nice race stuff

djconnel

I find it curious that 12XU found the bike twitchy, when a zero rake should give an exceptionally large trail (wheel radius / tan head tube angle). For example, even for a super-steep 75 degree head tube, 90 mm of trail. That's huge. It should be hard to steer, not hard to keep straight.