How much fork trail is enough trail?
#1
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Ladel
Joined: Mar 2018
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How much fork trail is enough trail?
I'm looking for a range of trail lengths that make a bike more stable and easier to ride no-handed. My current bike is a little twitchy at low speeds. I'd like to be able to compare my trail with other trail lengths. While this is very subjective, it would be nice to see the length of trails people consider very stable.
#2
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Joined: Jul 2009
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From: Boston, MA
Bikes: Bianchi Volpe, ANT 3-speed roadster, New Albion Privateer singlespeed, Raleigh One Way singlespeed, Raleigh Professional "retro roadie" rebuild, 198? Fuji(?) franken-5-speed, 1937 Raleigh Tourist, 1952 Raleigh Sports, 1966 Raleigh Sports step-through
Quickly throwing published numbers into a trail calculator, the bike I find easiest to ride no-hands has a trail figure of 61mm
That's a 2014/15 New Albion Privateer with a 72º head angle, 50mm rake, and 700x35 tires
That's a 2014/15 New Albion Privateer with a 72º head angle, 50mm rake, and 700x35 tires
#3
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Ladel
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The calculator also lists my wheel flop at 23mm. Given your geometry, your wheel flop is 18mm. Wikipedia states that "a bike with too much wheel flop will tend to veer off its line at low and moderate speeds." It seems like there needs to be a good balance between trail and wheel flop.
#4
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From: Boston, MA
Bikes: Bianchi Volpe, ANT 3-speed roadster, New Albion Privateer singlespeed, Raleigh One Way singlespeed, Raleigh Professional "retro roadie" rebuild, 198? Fuji(?) franken-5-speed, 1937 Raleigh Tourist, 1952 Raleigh Sports, 1966 Raleigh Sports step-through
How low is low, in terms of speed?
#6
Senior Member
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From: Boston, MA
Bikes: Bianchi Volpe, ANT 3-speed roadster, New Albion Privateer singlespeed, Raleigh One Way singlespeed, Raleigh Professional "retro roadie" rebuild, 198? Fuji(?) franken-5-speed, 1937 Raleigh Tourist, 1952 Raleigh Sports, 1966 Raleigh Sports step-through
I've never bothered to check my actual speed when riding no-hands, but I know I can't do it super slow. 10mph or close to it is probably my low limit
#7
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From: Seattle
Very nice! Using an online calculator, my trail is 76mm. It has a head tube angle of 71º; a fork offset of 40mm; and a 26x2.35" MTB wheel. That's quite the difference in trail, and I find it hard to keep a straight line at low speeds with no hands.
The calculator also lists my wheel flop at 23mm. Given your geometry, your wheel flop is 18mm. Wikipedia states that "a bike with too much wheel flop will tend to veer off its line at low and moderate speeds." It seems like there needs to be a good balance between trail and wheel flop.
The calculator also lists my wheel flop at 23mm. Given your geometry, your wheel flop is 18mm. Wikipedia states that "a bike with too much wheel flop will tend to veer off its line at low and moderate speeds." It seems like there needs to be a good balance between trail and wheel flop.
High trail stiffens a bike up with speed, it doesn't do much to stabilize things when you're going slow.
If you want a bike to handle stably at low speeds, it's usually beneficial to have quite low trail.
#8
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Ladel
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Cheers!
#9
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From: Mich
Bikes: RSO E-tire dropper fixie brifter
A cheap way to make a bike less stevie is to play with the wheels & tires. Toss a larger dia wheel & tire up front to increase rear sag & it should limit the wondering. It'll impact steering with increased understeering.
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#10
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Ladel
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Don't I want to smaller diameter front wheel and smaller tire width? That would increase the head tube angle, which will decrease the trail, thus yielding a more stable bike at low speeds.
#11
Calamari Marionette Ph.D
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From: Coeur d' Alene
Bikes: 3 Chinese Gas Pipe Nerdcycles and 2 Chicago Electroforged Boat Anchors
#12
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From: Colorado
Last edited by GailT; 04-01-18 at 05:32 PM.
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