Compact vs Horizontal

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  • There are loads of threads on the internet about compact vs traditional geo from a performance point of view. In the end there doesn’t seem to be much in it, other than aesthetics. What do you prefer?


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  • Level top tube for me. Actually have never owned a bike with a sloping top tube.

  • That quirk is absolutely outrageous.

    Both compact and classic geo have their place.

  • I think horizontal is generally better for steel bikes aesthetically, if its overly compact and not slammed or with pointy up enve stem it looks too mamil-y for my liking. Whereas horizontal top tube/stem/bars all aligned are extremely nice and easy to get right.

  • 100% dependant on the riders fit. If you haven't got a significant drop from the saddle to the bars then a horizontal top tube is gonna look poo because either you have no seatpost showing and a high standover or you have a tonne of spacers or positive stem. Compact solves this.
    I actually used to prefer horizontal top tubes but now prefer compact geo

    My current bike is horizontal, my next is compact

  • 100% dependant on the riders fit.

    Funny, I choose it 100% based on esthetics.

  • I’m on a frame building course soon and have about 8/9cm drop from saddle to bar. I prefer the aesthetic of horizontal, but every ‘instagramable’ bike seems to be designed for someone with a ridiculous leg to torso ratio

  • Better off sloping?


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  • Sloping and a shorter headtube with less aggressive stem if it was mine

  • Dave Yates said to me when I asked for a very slight drop on the top tube on my only custom frame: 'It'll look like a mistake'.

    He was perhaps right, but I rather like it. Was copying (purely aesthetic) a really lovely 853 Rourke track frame that @picco was riding at the time - think it came from a certain wheelmagician before that - that had a really subtle drop on the TT.

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Compact vs Horizontal

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