Here is a Trek OCLV 120 Carbon:
and here is a Giant TCR Composite 2:
The Trek is traditional, the Giant has a sloping top tube - or what is also called "compact geometry." Both bicycles are carbon fiber, use similar Shimano components, and cost about the same. Their weights are about the same.
The notion of a compact frame, however, is what interests me. For those who might know, is there a noticeable difference between a compact frame and a traditional? I've heard the idea of the compact frame is simply to produce less frame sizes to fit more riders of varying height. That aside from this, which is decidedly a marketing scheme, one bike handles, accelerates, climbs and stops as well as the other when both are similarly equipped.
Does anyone here have any real world experience with a compact frame and can compare it to a traditional frame?
Thanks.
PS: ironic, isn't it, that my 11,000th post is bike and not Porsche-related.
