on 12/24/03 12:13 PM, Jan Heine at heine93@earthlink.net wrote:
> It often has been asserted that fork rake, etc., don't make a
> difference in ride comfort. I believe that this is true with most
> current forks.
>
> However, some of the super-skinny fork blades of old, combined with
> some generous rake, do seem to provide flex in the blade. Of course,
> I haven't measured it, but riding two Alex Singer, made of the same
> tubing, roughly the same geometry, but with different forks (same
> tires, etc., too), showed a distinct difference over the bumpy
> pavement of our city streets.
The amount of fork offset (rake) has nothing to do with the amount of curve in the blade. You can have a fork with a large rake and a straight blade. You are correct that offset (and trail) can have an effect on feel as will the diameter and wall thickness of the blade. However, whether the fork is straight or curved has no effect.
Todd Kuzma
Heron Bicycles
Tullio's Big Dog Cyclery
LaSalle, IL 815-223-1776
http://www.heronbicycles.com
http://www.tullios.com