Sam the OP asked an opinion on 44 or tapered headtube, and for your future reference…..
The 18 bikes HT is external tapered, so would not take a 1.5 fork anyhow. The Deda one appears to be the same, and may or may not be available – I’ve certainly not seen it in their product listings.
You’re right, he asked an opinion, I gave mine and I gave the reasons for it. Not quite sure why you’ve then suggested less practical, verging on unavailable, options then tried to shoot me down for disagreeing with you…
Anyhow, enough of this pissing about, I’m sure Black Cat would have told you all this anyway… I’m sure you’ll end up with a lovely bike and look forward to seeing it (although they did steal my pivoting drop idea 😉