What is considered a slack head angle?
A “slack” angle is anywhere from 63 to 66 degrees. This means the fork of the bike is going to stick out farther, creating a more stable ride at high speeds, but also be slower handling.
How do you make a slacker head angle?
Flip the bike upside down in the stand. Grease the offset lower cup and sit it on the head tube. The ‘-‘ should be at the front if you want a slacker head angle. Use the notches on either side of the cup like a gunsight to line it up centrally with the down tube.
How does fork travel affect head angle?
As the fork gets longer, it raises handlebars up and slackens the head tube angle. As a rough estimate, each 20mm of travel added will correlate to a one-degree difference in the head tube angle.
How much difference does head angle make?
It’s only about 1/180th that bad. The slacker (lower) head angle will give slower steering response (but by contrast will be more stable). A steeper head angle will be twitchier but will allow for faster steering.
Is 65 degrees a slack head angle?
At low speed and when climbing, a slack head angle (65 or 66-degrees with 27.5 wheels) is more prone to wandering across the trail. Extra effort is required to pull your weight forward to stop the wheel flopping from side to side. A slack head angle can make a bike feel sluggish and lazy to steer on flatter trails.
How do you measure head angles?
Head tube angle – often shortened to ‘head angle’ – is measured from the horizontal to a line running down the centre of the fork steerer tube.
Can you slacken a head angle?
Shortening the eye-to-eye length compresses the suspension linkage, lowering the BB height and slackening the head angle, without the shock actually being compressed. It’s enough to drop the BB height by 7mm and slacken the head angle by 0.4°.
Is headset A angle?
In the bicycle world, we define head tube angle (or head angle for moderate brevity) as the angle between the center axis of the frame’s head tube (also called the steering axis), and the horizontal (90° being a vertical line).
How does head angle affect reach?
Definition: The horizontal distance from the bottom bracket to the centre of the top of the head tube. That’s because the head angle is not vertical – so, the longer the head tube, the further back the top of it becomes, and so the shorter the reach measurement.
How does head tube angle affect climbing?
A steeper seat angle puts you in a more centered position for climbing, and it’s easier to shift your weight forward and backward as needed, compared to feeling like you’re going to loop out any time you start climbing.
What is head tube length?
The head tube length is measured from the bottom to the top of the head tube. Bikes with a long head tube raises the front end of the bike, putting the rider in a more upright position.