Re: LBS, you should be ashamed.

<< Now when I walk into a LBS, all I see is compact geometry.  Now according to
the salespeople, compact is vastly superior to standard geometry. >>

Compact geometry is an attempt by bike companies to reinvent the wheel, as it
were, since the basic diamond frame design has not changed much in a century.
How else to attract new customers in a flat market? Appeal to the younger crowd
who grew up on BMX and mountain bikes with a familiar look but for the road,
and grown-up riders with something new and different. New designs imply
progress, so they must be better, right?
There's always someone who will buy the latest and most expensive gadget, just
because they can-I know several of them.
For me, compact frames lose points in the aethetics department, although a lot
of that went out the window anyway with the advent of TIG-welded, oversize
beer-can bikes. I don't care who it is, an adult on a compact frame looks
silly-like a kid on steroids riding an overgrown BMX bike.
Just my 2¢.