Yep, IIRC the Gios Compact frame was for crit racing, with adjustable dropouts so depending on the tire you were using, you could set it so it was only a millimeter or so away from the seat tube.
Steve DeOreo
North Canton, Ohio
<classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 1:00 PM Subject: Re: [CR]Ebay: What's a Gios Compact Drop out for?
> John, I'm sure you are right, so we could conclude that the idea was more
> a marketing gimmick than a real benefit. IIRC, the bike's model name
> referred to the fact that the wheelbase could be made more "Compact." One
> thing I am sure of however, is that Gios did not market the adjustable
> dropouts as "perfect for compensating for mis-alignment on our poorly
> constructed frames!" Can you imagine that? Ha!
>
> Ray Dobbins
> Miami Florida
>
> John Thompson <JohnThompson@new.rr.com> wrote:
> Raymond Dobbins wrote:
>
>> I think the main selling point for this adjustable dropout design was
>> not replaceability so much as the ability to shorten the wheelbase for
>> crit races, or lengthen it for road races. Something like that.
>
> But there's only a few millimeters of adjustment available! Just enough
> to straighten the wheel in a sloppily constructed frame -- not much more
> than that.
>
> --
> John (john@os2.dhs.org)
> Appleton WI USA