I am riding a Softride Fast TT7 (please don’t mock the bike). I am wanting a new fork but most of them that I find the rake is a 43 and it came with a 45. Will it affect the handling that much for an avg joe? Will a 43 make the steering quicker or slower? Any input is appreciated.
Nice bike! You need a nice aero front wheel for that…maybe Santa will bring you something. 
NO! You will never be able to tell the difference. I have switched back and forth over the years, using this and that on a frame, and even forgetting what was on the frame. Even Bill Holland waived it off and said that people can only tell the difference if he tells them it’s a different fork. Then, of course, they become experts with exquisitely sensitive perceptions.
The 43 will very marginally increase the trail. Since handling is dominated first by wheel base, then by head tube angle, and then by trail, you will not notice the difference. It’s 2mm out of a total wheelbase of ~1,000 mm.
going to a 43 mm rake from a 45 will marginally increase the trail, and make the handling slightly slower. Whether you will be able to tell is another matter entirely. The decrease in rake may also be exacerbated or neutralized by a change in the axle - crown measurement (which will affect head angle).
I had a 40mm offset changed to a 43 offset
I love the change
Rides no handed much better
The 40 was a track fork
Thom
have a great Christmass.
I am riding a Softride Fast TT7 (please don’t mock the bike). I am wanting a new fork but most of them that I find the rake is a 43 and it came with a 45. Will it affect the handling that much for an avg joe? Will a 43 make the steering quicker or slower? Any input is appreciated.
Does it matter? No. Would you be able to feel the difference? Possibly, depending on how fine-tuned your kinesthetic sense happens to be in this context.