Both cranksets can be considered race crankset. To be more accurate it's really about chainring bolt circles.

I use the "race" crankset (using the title terminology). But I climb horribly.

A former teammate got second in the Cat 2 Battenkill race one year. He was using a compact.

The advantage of a compact is that you can get lower gears (i.e. 34x27 or whatever, versus a 39x27) or you can get closer steps (50/34 x 11-23 instead of an 53/39 x 12-27).

The disadvantage of compact cranks is that you're ultimately limited in top gear - 50x11 - at least using stock chainring sizes. A higher gear (53x11, 54x11) would help reduce cadence in faster bits like downhills or pack riding. A lot of people dismiss this as a non-factor but then they wonder how I moved up to the front of the group (in a race or in a group ride full of non-racing folks), or, once I'm there, why I'm not struggling. It's because I can pedal 8 or 10 rpm slower, allowing me to do much less work to move up or maintain position, relatively speaking.

A good compromise is one put forth by a former domestic pro team director (and a former pro himself). He has a compact crank outfitted with 52/36 chainrings. The 36 is small enough to help with getting lower gears and a 52x11 gives up very little compared to a 53x11.

cdr