Originally Posted by
Andrew R Stewart
Dave- Did you come up with any insights about rake and handling/stability? This understanding is the only reason i can think of to go to this trouble. Andy.
Hey Andrew -
The adjustable rake project was geared toward better understanding speed wobble and how trail might affect it.
As for the recumbent deal.........I don't know squat about them. I just wondered how much adjustment range the OP might need to get the answers he's looking for. It's clear to me now any long slot adjustable will not have enough range to get the job done.
The issue with having a fork with blades that pivot fore/aft at the crown to adjust rake (aside from safety which would be a big concern IMO) is that as you add rake the span (length) if the fork would change and with it the head angle.
I don't think you are going to find a quick and easy way to make an adjustable rake with a wide range........short range sure..........long range you get into span issues.
That said I'd try something like this - I'd get an old suspension fork that has slip in blades that get pinched in place with side bolts on the crown. Pull the suspension blades out and toss them and make/have made new blades that you can slip into the MTB crown that have differing rakes to test. this way you can slip one pair out, slide another pair in, put the front wheel in place and tighten to align the blades and then tighten them in the crown. The advantage of this is that you can control span for a given rake and keep the variables down to one.
You could make a few different blade sets with some adjustment at the dropout end so maybe you could have just 2 or 3 sets and a huge range with small increments.
Does this make sense?
Dave