Question Re: Fork Length
I am shopping around for an aftermarket carbon fork to replace the stock fork on my road bike, which was damaged when I had my bike shipped abroad ahead of me.
The damaged stock fork is 365mm long, axle to crown. Most of the aftermarket forks I’ve seen online – Columbus, Lynskey Deda, etc -- are two to three millimeters longer. (I have been told Enve manufactures a fork almost exactly along the same specs as the stock fork on my bike, but I’m afraid my budget simply won’t permit me to buy a pricey Enve fork at the moment.)
Will I see too much of a difference in the bike’s handling using a fork that is two to three millimeters longer, same rake? And, also, even more pressing, will installing a longer fork somehow put pressure on the headtube where there shouldn’t be any? I won’t crack my headtube by using a longer fork, will I?
Thanks in advance and I do apologize for what I am sure is a forehead-slapping, annoying noob question.