Originally Posted by
keithdunlop
I'm upgrading the fork on my Soma and I'm looking for rake advice. I have a choice between 43mm vs. 48mm. The head tube angle is 73. The bike is setup as a fast commuter with occasional weekend fire road gravel duty. The current steel fork has a 43mm rake, but I'm wondering if I would improve off road handling by getting the 48mm. For example, the Enve G Series gravel fork has a 50mm rake. The Ritchey gravel/adventure fork is 50mm as well.
Personally I would try out the 48mm fork just to play around with both and see what I like more.
It depends mostly on how you ride, where, how aggressively and how much weight you have over the front axle. If you do a lot of high speed riding you may want to stick with 43mm. If you're looking for sharper handling at lower speeds, go 48mm.
Keep in mind that 73 degrees is already rather steep for a gravel bike.