Originally Posted by
Longfemur
The fork trail and rake have absolutely nothing to do with whether the fork is straight or curved. Straight forks are angled appropriately out from the fork crown, and so it makes no difference whatsoever.
This is absolutely true. The only thing the fork curve affects is shock absorption and aesthetics. Aesthetics are a personal matter and shock absorption is something that can be quantified either in a lab or via some modeling. The vector diagram presented previously demonstrates the concept of fork curve on shock absorption but doesn't quantify the effect.