Originally Posted by
JoelS
43mm rake fork? What's the HT angle? It's going to have to be really steep to get the trail where you want it for aggressive handling.
I recently did a custom frame. HT angle is slack (I'm short) at 71.5. But the fork rake of 50mm put the front wheel out enough to have short trail. Additionally, the BB is a bit lower than normal to drop CoG. Handling is exactly what I wanted.
Regarding the seatpost, often times to locate the BB in the right spot and the chain stays at an appropriate length for application, seatback seatposts are required.
I chose 43mm because that's what all my bikes have had to this point. I did some research beforehand, and 43mm seems to be generally recommended. I would have loved to engage the builder in a back-and-forth discussion about which was best for me, but there was a bit of a language barrier and they took a lot of time answering questions.
so, I did ask about it on this forum and others, and I was told repeatedly that I should leave the builder alone and just let him build the bike, and to not trouble him with all my little questions.