Road Bike Compact Frame vs Traditional Frame: Which One’s Right for You?

If you read our previous post on road bikes, you must have an idea how important road bike frame is for smooth riding as well as rider’s comfort. Remember your first ride as a kid. Your legs weren’t touching the road and you kept on looking for something to hold on to?

That’s when you knew that the frame wasn’t suitable for you but you’re not as intelligent to realize that you’re not suited to ride that bike. But that was the part of the game plan – to teach you how to maintain balance in fear of falling down.

However, with road bikes, there’s no way you can take any chances with frame size or design. Here are some important factors to choose the right frame.

• No compromises with the kind of frame nor the size – that’s the basic of choosing a perfect road bike.
• For what purpose will you be buying it? Is it for road trips, triathlons or for workouts and rides on the pavements? This question needs to be answered too.

Here, you are going to learn about the road bike frames used for riding on paved surfaces. There are two styles:

1. Compact frame
2. Traditional frame

Road Bike Compact Frame vs Traditional Frame: The Geometry

Traditional road bike frames have a top tube running parallel to the road surface. The style was introduced in early 1900s and has been popular ever since.

On the other hand, compact frames are contemporary, introduced in late 1900’s. They feature a sloping top tube with its higher end attached to the front tube. Compact frame style follows the design adopted by mountain bikes and BMX cycles.

So, the real difference between the road bike compact frame vs traditional is based on the size of the frames which depends upon the manufacturers.

What is traditional sizing?

Depending upon the length of the top tube, traditional-style road bike frames are often sized in centimeters. It must be according to your physical proportions. Following parts of your body determine the perfect fit:

1. The length of your arms
2. The size of your leg
3. Torso length

The best way to choose the right frame size is to find out your inseam length in cms which is longer than the size of inseam your pants have. Most of the time, inseam length determines the right frame size. If a person has longer arms or torso, he may need slightly larger frame.

What is Compact Sizing?

Compact sizing is a lot simpler than traditional sizing as you don’t need to have the accurate measurements. This frame style comes in almost all sizes:

• Small size
• Medium size
• Large size
• Extra-large size

Compact frame is more sort of a general size and it can be divided into different categories to accommodate a large number of riders. This is why manufacturers often introduce road bikes with compact frames. The frame can be adjusted to your height, just by adjusting the seat post.

Finally

With this being said, both bikes are equal in terms of performance with one being more specific to your needs and the other one being generalized. So, you can always have a compact-style road bike if you are not able to locate the traditional style bike in the market.