I can vouch for the effect the fork travel has on angle. My husband "pimped" my 2001 fuel with new components including the Reba fork. I was noticing that i was having trouble handling the bike, i thought it was me, but a bike mechanic friend said that the fork angle was affecting things and turned it to minimal travel and then it felt a bit better, but still not the same as my original fuel.

As for HT for FS bikes, i prefer HT more for simplicity sake. I agree that the weight difference can be minimal but there are more parts to break in a FS and things that go wrong. I also feel a ride better on the HT, i'm more involved in the riding, if that makes sense, but for longer races like my solo event, i prefered the FS to spare the body.

I have the Gary Fisher big sur (female version) and the trek fuel at the moment is much much heavier and quite noticeable. I find for the provincial cup races that i was working very very hard managing the bike, and not as hard with the lighter hard tail.

I love discussing HT vs FS especially with the ladies!

Smile

Hannah