Fork rake for Team Miyata?

davidd86 said:

I have a mid-90s Team Miyata frame, size 58 c-c, and I was wondering if by any chance anyone could tell me what fork rake to use with it. I had a Kestrel EMS fork on there and something seemed a bit off -- I don't know if it was the fork rake or what, but in any case I don't know what would be appropriate. I know this is a longshot but thanks for any heads-ups.

Trail is the critical parameter that affects how the bike handles, and this is determined by the fork rake and the head angle. If you have the original fork and it is not bent, you can measure the rake, and calculate the trail in relation to the Kestrel fork, which has a rake of 43mm for the 1" steerer/700c size.

Take a look at this chapter from Lennard Zinn's book which is available through the velonews website that discusses frame geometry and stability.

http://www.velonews.com/media/Block40.pdf

Another page that defines "trail" nicely:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/trail.html

Thanks. I know essentially all that stuff but I've lost the OE Miyata fork and the Kestrel simply did not feel right to me. The handling seemed skittish compared to most race bikes. I will try a 40 and see if it stabilizes a tiny bit. I just wondered if anyone would know.