Originally Posted by base2

Trail isn't the be-all end-all of bike handking characteristics by any means.

Low trail= nimble/twitchy/easy to make constant corrections & instantaneous response. Often used for bikes that have considerable cargo over the front wheel else it's too hard to effect the necessary steering changes. Porteur, cargo, or mail bikes, for example. The need for constant corrections is often mentally fatiguing in it"s own right if there isn't a load present to dampen the input & prevent over correction..

High trail bikes are super stable & take effort to make corrections & direction changes. They ride like trucks or choppers at slow speed, But will be easy to ride in high speed on rough terrain. Rocks & potholes, etc, have lesser effect on changing the line you'd like to ride. High trail bikes take effort to get into a turn especially at high speed, but once you get it to do so, it'll want to "carve" a corner & stay that way requiring an equal or greater effort or throttle/power input to get right again.

Not mentioned thus far is flop. Flop is the product of the head tube angle. Generally, the slacker the head tube angle the greater flop for a given trail. Meaning the more the front end rises & falls with steering. Literally you need to fight the effect of gravity to keep the bike from spiraling into the Earth. Less flop (steeper head tube) makes for lighter feel, more flop (relaxed head tube) requires more effort. Bar width for more or less leverage, are often used to lessen the perceived effort to make corrections.

Lots of flop is why rough terrain bikes have wide bars & TT & track bikes have narrow bars. To keep the bike controllable, manageable & predictable even if their trail numbers on paper really aren't all that different..

I like to think of trail as how you get into a turn, flop is how you get out of a turn.

Rake, trail, & flop are all independant, but related...& we haven't even explored wheelbase yet.