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If I have this right, a slack head angle slows the steering, so the use of a short stem speeds it up again.
If ETT / front centre / reach are removed from it, is there any rule of thumb for achieving a responsive steering speed?
Eg 66' HA = a 40mm or 50mm stem?
I appreciate that many other numbers come into play, but looking for some food for thought.
Ta
I appreciate that many other numbers come into play
Indeed they do, wheel size, fork offset (consequently affecting trail), bar width, even tyre size/profile, not to mention the back end of the bike, wheelbase and chainstay length etc. And that's before you take into account other factors like whether the bike is intended to carry any luggage or has been designed with a specific riding or terrain bias in mind.
also...
is there any rule of thumb for achieving a responsive steering speed
One persons responsive is another persons twitchy, and one persons stable is another persons slow. There are rules of thumb, the problem is there are lots of them, and to some degree they are all correct.
but looking for some food for thought.
Sadly what you will probably get is a number of people parroting whatever is the current fashion at the time, and another bunch of people vociferously denying it, mixed in with a few people convinced that 'their' opinion is the correct one.
Swings, roundabouts, and worms everywhere!
On the flip side for the curious and open minded there are a LOT of resources and articles on the web, and in print regarding bicycle geometry and some of them make for very interesting reading.
If ETT / front centre / reach are removed from it, is there any rule of thumb for achieving a responsive steering speed?
No
HtH
On the flip side for the curious and open minded there are a LOT of resources and articles on the web, and in print regarding bicycle geometry and some of them make for very interesting reading.
Linky dinkys?
[url= https://www.google.co.uk ]https://www.google.co.uk[/url]
^ start there 😉
or, if I have the time to pull a list of links together later I'll update but right now [s]I can't be arsed[/s] I'm a bit busy 😀
If I have this right, a slack head angle slows the steering, so the use of a short stem speeds it up again.
Yes, sort of. As far as steering overall goes they're 2 different things but can work together for an overall balanced feel.
A slack HA with a std sus fork means you get an amount of steering 'flop' (that 'slack' feel) and a long stem feels awful with that flop, so a shorter stem is a necessity to help prevent continually steering from one side to another more than is normal. (ie excess/high levels of positive steering reaction are exaggerated and harder to control with the longer stem)
Reading about stuff can help but experimenting yourself is much more useful. If anything you'll know if you are someone who feels/cares a jot about the differences, or not.
Not sure if you've tried a short stem yet, but I stuck a 40mm one on my BFe and I loved it so much that I put up with any climbing downsides keep getting the enjoyment from the fun descending upsides.