![]() ![]() Weight distribution is the key measurement. There is no rule of thumb about proper front center. A long wheelbase is nice to have at high speeds, but if too long, it makes it harder to maneuver in a group of riders or just interacting with one rider. Too much weight on the rear wheel (common with ultra short chainstays) makes seated climbing more challenging by making it harder to keep the front wheel on the ground. (easy to check with a bathroom scale) During high speed descents, proper weight distribution will give the rider confidence in the turns. Ideally, a rider should have 45% of the bike + rider’s weight on the front wheel and 55% on the rear wheel. Head angle also influences wheelbase and front center, which affect weight distribution. Wheelbase, Weight Distribution and Front Center People are usually very good at adapting to various head angle bikes if they have the proper trail. ![]() The steeper head angle bikes area little more agile, or require less effort to steer. ![]() Generally speaking, with a proper fork rake to yield a trail from 55 to 60 mm of trail, the head angles in this range are fairly stable at high speeds. Head tube angles range from 71.5 degrees to 74.5 degrees. So most shallow angle bikes have plenty of fork offset to compensate. A shallow head angle will want to turn too quickly when leaned if there is too little trail or not enough offset. A steep head angle is more upright and takes less effort to turn the front wheel, especially if there is too much rake or too little trail. More trail is nice at high speeds (motorcycles usually have 80 mm of trail) but can feel sluggish at slower speeds.Īlso known as the steering axis, this angle influences stability in combination with fork offset by controlling “wheel flop”, or the tendency for the wheel to turn when leaned. 57mm of trail is considered by many to be an ideal combination of stability and agility. Fork offset for road bikes usually ranges from 40 to 55 mm, generating trail figures from 50 to 63 mm. #STEERING GEOMETRY CALCULATOR PATCH#Trail is best thought of as the tire patch “trailing” behind the steering axis. Fork offset determines trail when considered with head angle (and the diameter of the wheel). Straight blade forks can have plenty of offset. Not to be confused with the curvature of the fork blades, which some people think of as “rake”. 12.How these measurements affect stability :įork Rake is also known as Offset, which more accurately describes what it is: the hub’s offset from the steering axis. (R 2 + N 2) * cos 2Beta - 2 * R * B * cos Beta + B 2 - N 2 = 0 Into the equation for fork offset B yields the following quadratic: The smaller the fork offset (the straighter the fork) the longer the trail - contrary to a wide-spread conviction.Ī few examples measured at my own bicycles: Negative values: hub follows the steering axis (fork "bent backward"). Positive values: hub preceeds the steering axis (as shown in the image). Here defined as the angle between the floor behind the front wheel and the steering axis (see image above).ĭistance between the contact point (center of the contact patch) of the front wheel on the floor and the point where the "virtually" elongated steering axis meets the ground. TopOfPage | SteeringGeometr圜alculator | WheelDiameterTable | Text | Formulae Trail passes zero (turns to negative values) if the steering is turned by The comma as well as the point may be used as decimal point.įurther results from the above steering geometry data: The input field of the variable to be calculated must be empty. ![]() Your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or JavaScript has been disabled. Geometrical Relation between Head Tube Angle, Trail and Fork Offset ![]()
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