Thanks for replying. I thought I had mentioned the actual trail figure on the bike in question but, apparently, I didn't. It's 35mm with 451 x 28 tires. So if it were given a "normal" trail for a "neutral handling" 700c bike of 57mm are you suggesting that it would then feel "heavy" & "sluggish"?

My very narrow question remains: Are there handling issues for for small wheeled bikes that more or less require using much less trail than a full sized bike and, if so, what are they?

Tom