I can ride my Swift no-hands--though it's less stable than either of my 700c bikes.

I want to point out that Forester's article doesn't represent all the issues associated with trail and stability. As noted by Jan Heine in most every issue of Bicycle Quaterly, traditional French long distance bicycles (randonneur machines) have very low trail, in an application where stability is a primary design requirement. In a 1200km event, you don't want to spend any extra effort keeping your bike tracking straight.

I don't pretend to understand all the issues myself, but I do know that tire width, tire pressure, center of gravity, and weight distribution--it addition to trail--are factors that need to be considered when evaluating stability. Even the term itself needs analysis, since high speed stability and low speed stability are often at odds.

Jack