This is part 2 of 8. Here is the start!
A quick overview of terms that are important:
- Fork Rake – Offset that places the fork ends ahead of the steering axis
- Head Tube Angle – The angle that the frame holds the fork at in relation to the ground (same as steering angle)
- Trail – The distance that the axle trails the steering axis intersection with the ground
- Effective Top Tube Length – The measurement from the center of the seat post to the center of the head tube when measured level
- Reach to Bars – Distance from center of seat to center of handle bar stem
- Proper Knee Alignment – Adjustment to ensure that your knee is centered over the pedal spindle
- Seat Tube Angle – The angle of the seat tube in relation to the ground
- Toe Strike – How much of the foot interferes with turning the front wheel
Wipe-Out!
Compromise 1.) I call this one Wipe-out
Believe it or not, there are manufacturers that say ‘toe-strike’ is not an issue. So, they just build the small bikes to the same handling characteristics as the large bikes. 60mm of trail, 72 degree head tube angle, 40 ~ 45mm or fork rake, 73.5 degree seat angle, 50cm top tube, and toes be dammed. Massive toe strike like the photo shown above in this article is common place with some major race bike manufacturers.
This picture is one I took when the customer brought the bike in because of crash damage. He didn’t know why he crashed, he only know that he had swerved to miss a car door that was opened suddenly in front of him. I’ll bet you can figure out how he crashed. We quit offering bikes built with massive toe-strike because of our money back guarantee. So many people who thought it would be fine, decided that they were not fine with a lot of toe strike and returned the bicycle to us for a complete refund. Nothing speeds up design upgrades like a money back guarantee I’ll tell you!
I urge you to check any bike that you are considering purchasing for acceptable level of toe-strike before you buy it. A 15 minute test ride won’t do either. If you’re going to accept a bunch of toe-strike, you should ride the bike on your regular route a few times before you buy it. As far as I know, we are the only manufacturer who will buy back a bike that the customer is not satisfied with. With most manufacturers, you bought it, it’s yours! There are a lot of women and shorter riders out there that have listed a bike on Craigslist after discovering that they were afraid to ride it because of toe-strike.
Tomorrow: Would manufacturers resort to Trickery?
Find out here!