Fork replacement questions (Possibly dumb?)

HardwareLust said:

I want to upgrade my road bike from it's current threadless steel fork to a
carbon fork. How can I ensure that I get a fork with the same rake/trail so
the handling characteristics stay the same? Is there some way to measure it
with a measuring tape? Also, how do I tell if I have a 1" steerer or a 1
1/8" steerer without disassembling the fork and measuring the tube? It's a
steel Tommasini frame, if that makes a difference.

Thanks,
H.

You can remove the top cap and measure the diameter with no problems. To measure rake, you can estimate by using strings etc. I would bet you have anywhere from 43 to 46 mm of rake on a standard 700c road frame.