"Eiron" wrote in message
...
wrote:
You can't easily go wrong designing a bicycle, if that means choosing a
frame,
wheels etc. from a manufacturer's catalogue, and having it built for you.
A young girl died in Brisbane Australia approx 10 - 12 years ago when her
cheap imported bike became dangerously unstable at speed on a down hill
section of bitumen road. The University of Queensland undertook a review of
the bike design and came to the conclusion that the steering head angle in
conjunction with fork design led to the instability displayed at speed (the
design evidently became unstable at approx 35 - 40 Km/h).
The relationship between steering head angle and trail distance (distance
from where a line through the steering head will intersect the road to where
the tyre contacts the road) is very relevant for controllability. You should
not mix and match forks and frames if you don't know what you are doing.