On 4/28/2012 10:24 PM, Dan O wrote:
On Apr 27, 8:31 am, wrote:
Does any major manufacturer still makes non-compact frame road bikes for
sale in the U.S.?

Friend is looking for a new road bike and is about to give up on shops
and go to bikesdirect.com. He's willing to spend about $2K, which rules
out all the custom frames which are still normal size. He needs a 56cm
frame.

There are still a couple of touring bikes made in non-compact frame
designs, but he wants something lighter (the touring bikes are all steel
frames and the wheels are heavier as well).

My Miyata was 56 cm. Light, steel, sweet, cheap. *Beautiful* classic
design. I got it via ebay, but there are other venues.

I think he'll go with a new Surly. The thing is that he's not interested
in making this a big project, he just wants to buy a bicycle. It
shouldn't be so hard, but it is.

It's very amusing to see people insisting that the only difference
between a compact frame and a traditional frame is that one has a
sloping top tube! If you look at the geometry specifications provided by
each manufactures, it's very clear that this is not the case.

Good quote by Grant Peterson at
http://www.renaissancebicycles.com/rivendell/

The problem is that the bicycle dealers had no choice but to adopt the
same rationalizations as the manufacturers when it came to compact frames.