Old 01-03-24, 01:58 PM
  #31  
unterhausen
Randomhead
 
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It really depends on if you are ever going to put a front load on it. If not, it really doesn't matter. Except your geometry is going to be a little annoying while standing on hills.

Your proposed head angle makes it so a 55mm rake fork would be mid-trail, I think. If you look at production bikes, they definitely lean towards high trail. It makes sense, most production bikes don't get ridden, and most of the ones that do get ridden are ridden without a front load. People don't like steering they have to get used to, and low trail takes a bit of adaptation. Unladen high trail bikes do not. So production bikes are made to feel stable during a 10 minute test ride.
I have a bike with 73mm hta and 55mm rake, and it takes me approximately one hill to get used to the steering if I have been riding something higher trail. The one with 73hta and 65mm rake takes two hills to get used to, but since it always has a front randonneur bag on it, it feels perfectly normal all the time. Even if the bag is mostly empty.
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