Originally Posted by
ljsense
... I think decreasing rake, if all other variables are kept constant, actually makes a bike feel more solid and stable at speed. I'd welcome an educated analysis on this...
You are right, but he is decreasing 'trail,' not 'rake.' Rake is the distance in front of the steering axis the fork puts the front axle; trail is a derived variable taking into account wheel size, head-tube angle, and fork rake.