Originally Posted by
Spoonrobot
Trail numbers are good info to have but the real difference is in wheel flop. Small differences in trail are impossible to feel, 5mm+ and you'll notice. Small differences in wheel flop are very obvious, like 1-2mm makes a difference.
Interestingly, going the calculator, starting with a 72.5
° head angle and going from 25s to 32s, the trail increases ~2mm (60 to 62.2) but the wheel flop stays about the same (17.2 to 17.8 mm).
However, if I change the wheel size to just 28 and decrease the head angle (as with only a 25 on the rear) I get a trail of 62.2mm with a head angle is 72.3
° -- same amount of trail as above going to 32s all around -- but, the wheel flop is now 18 (0.2mm more than above). So, changing the head angle has a bigger impact on wheel flop than tire size. Even so, a 72.3
° degree head angle is still in the middle of mountain bikes on the low end vs road bikes on the upper; and, tour bikes often have 72
° of head angle so, I'm not thinking wheel flop is an issue in this range.