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Geometry Cargo Fork Trail And Rake Numbers

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Geometry Cargo Fork Trail And Rake Numbers

Old 01-28-23, 05:03 PM
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Tdotbikes
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Geometry Cargo Fork Trail And Rake Numbers

I am in the planning stages of building my own cargo fork similar to the popular Crust Clydesdale. These forks use a 20" BMX wheel and have a solid rack attached. I know this is not the best cargo bike solution.
I was wondering if I could get an opinion on how much rake should be used? The bike I plan to use has a head tube angle of 71 and I would like to carry approx. 25-50lbs. I am using an online bicycle trail calculator to play with the numbers but I am not sure what would be best for this type of project. Any thoughts?
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Old 01-29-23, 12:59 PM
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unterhausen
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with a bmx wheel and 42mm offset, the Crust fork has fairly low trail. Low trail is good with a front load. It may be more comfortable to steer with something up front vs. no-load, but it generally only takes a couple of pounds to slow down the steering enough. For example, a lock or spare tire is usually enough. For 50 pounds, you might feel better with a little more rake, but maybe just 45mm
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Old 01-29-23, 05:51 PM
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Originally Posted by unterhausen
with a bmx wheel and 42mm offset, the Crust fork has fairly low trail. Low trail is good with a front load. It may be more comfortable to steer with something up front vs. no-load, but it generally only takes a couple of pounds to slow down the steering enough. For example, a lock or spare tire is usually enough. For 50 pounds, you might feel better with a little more rake, but maybe just 45mm
This helps immensely. I wasn’t sure if I wanted more or less trail with a heavier load up front. Thanks so much!
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Old 03-08-23, 07:29 AM
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I ended up with 44mm of trail. I used Columbus Unicrown fork blades on top and a set of heavy duty chain stays below the rack. The rest of the tubes are .035 straight gauge 4130. I made my own brake mount. This is what I have so far.













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Old 03-08-23, 07:28 PM
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unterhausen
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Thanks for the pictures, that looks great
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