I consider it a nice balance between sport-capable riding and century comfort, while still easily able to be mounted with what it takes for light touring.

I find it to be a fairly precise frame, balanced between being not as twitchy as some more sporting frames, but not feeling "long" like some other all-around road bikes, which don't like to get out of a straight line. I guess it's a balance between handling/stability.

I find it to be a nice balance, when new, between the expense of well-equipped racing bikes and the poorly-equipped entry-level bikes of the era. Time really hasn't changed that.

I hope that explains it. I tend to think of "compromise" as about the same term, but like "balance" better.