Jobst Brandt's head angle based on road shock angle analysis seems dubious to me. Anyone know of further support for this theory?
I have never seen an analysis of bicycle head angles, or heard of a bicycle designer, starting with a statistical distribution of bumps or in fact use the criterion of optimizing axial bump loading to determine head angle.
Everything I have seen says the head angle derives from physical layout and handling/stability considerations. An example would be "Bicycling Science" by Whitt and Wilson.
Joe Bender-Zanoni
Great Notch, NJ
> Jan Heine wrote:
> >
> (cut)
> > Also, I used to think that forks deflect backwards when going over
> > bumps. But Joe Breeze set me straight on that one, long ago. After
> > all, supension forks (OT, I know) wouldn't work if that were the
> > case...
>
> "The 73-75deg head angle is derived from road shock angle
> that arises from the statistical distribution of significant bumps, so
> that these loads are taken axially. With 73 deg angle, a 0.6" bump
> (a board or pavement step) is taken axially in the fork."
> --Jobst Brandt
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> South Pasadena, Southern California
>
> .