fork rake ?

[deluxerider]

all you genius's out there help me out. my bike was designed for a fork with 45mm of rake. what effect would replacing that fork with a fork with 43mm of rake have on the handling characteristics of my bike. Would I even notice? Would I have wheel toe overlap? What? Thanks.

[Dave]

It will increase the steering trail by about 2mm, assuming the that fork has the same axle to crown length. If not, then that dimension also needs to be considered. A little more trail will slow the steering a bit.

The formula for steering trail is R/tanH - (offset/sinH), where R is the tire radius and H is the head tube angle.

[ergott]

You effect everything.
trail
wheelbase
possibly head and seat tube angles (if the axle/crown measurement is different)
front center
weight distribution

Whether or not it matters or if you will notice is up for grabs. Some people are more sensitive to those things than others.

[echelon_john]

2 mm is not noticeable; as long as the axle to crown distance is the same (or within the same couple of mm) you'll be fine.

rake increased by more than 2mm every time you hit a bump, and decreases more than 2mm every time you brake hard up front.

you'd notice a bigger difference changing tire size by 2mm; i.e. 21/23/25