Originally Posted by
Fird
ok, excuse my n00bishness but just to confirm that the only thing that changes in a 'compact' crankset is the small chainring?
More specifically, it allows you to put a smaller chainring on it than a standard. You usually use a smaller big ring with that as well. For example, compact cranks commonly come with 50/36 or 50/34 while most standard ones (today) come with 53/39.