thanks all for your replies. to sum it up, there are three forces to concider in the frontend (regarding stability) 1. correcting/stabilising force from pivot angle/seat height 2. correcting/stabilising force from traction force of the frontwheel pulling bike straight. 3. destabilising force from steering, mostly felt when coasting at high speed without traction. you can maximise 1. to choose a pivotangle at about 55 deg. , but i asume you have a hard time making turns then. (correct?) i guess 2 and 3 will decrease if you minimise the negative trail. (both the beneficial and the bad effect) the bad thing about my construction might be that you are less able to "pull out" an akward situation while riding the bike. and i am not so much of a speed junky, 60 kmph+ what do you guys recon, good or bad idea? // Dirk Jan