Is there anything about a compact frame that is inherently supposed to position the rider differently? I ask because I recently swapped out a Team Miyata steel frame, which was just a traditional horizontal top tube unit, for a used Giant TCR, which is a compact frame. I just put all the components in exactly the same place, starting at the BB and measuring from there. The TCR took a slightly shorter stem to do it but the riding positions are absolutely identical. If you closed your eyes it would be extremely difficult to tell which bike you were on. Obviously there's much more seatpost showing on the Giant. It's the same position I've had as a Cat 3 and Masters rider for several years.
(I have just made up a marked stick to show the saddle height, the setback -- i.e. on my setup the saddle is dead horizontal and the nose of the saddle is exactly 3.5" aft of the BB spindle -- the reach and drop to the bars, and lastly the angle of the hoods. Works great and takes only a couple of minutes to do - you just use the marked stick and a long carpenter's level -- although I usually have to fine tune the saddle height by a couple of mm on the first ride.)
I ask because I rode by a very Euro, somewhat poseur-ish bike shop to buy a new inner tube and I was talking to the guy and he said the position should be different on the compact frame. That makes no sense at all to me. But I keep reading it in this BBS as well. Why is a compact frame, in and of itself, any different for the rider than a traditional one? I thought it was just a matter of saving a bit of weight by having slightly less metal.
(I have just made up a marked stick to show the saddle height, the setback -- i.e. on my setup the saddle is dead horizontal and the nose of the saddle is exactly 3.5" aft of the BB spindle -- the reach and drop to the bars, and lastly the angle of the hoods. Works great and takes only a couple of minutes to do - you just use the marked stick and a long carpenter's level -- although I usually have to fine tune the saddle height by a couple of mm on the first ride.)
I ask because I rode by a very Euro, somewhat poseur-ish bike shop to buy a new inner tube and I was talking to the guy and he said the position should be different on the compact frame. That makes no sense at all to me. But I keep reading it in this BBS as well. Why is a compact frame, in and of itself, any different for the rider than a traditional one? I thought it was just a matter of saving a bit of weight by having slightly less metal.