The Gios brand is one of the most highly revered Italian legends in cycling history and culture. Before opening his workshop, Tolmino Gios had been a professional racing cyclist. The first bikes built in his workshop were however not racing machines, but rather functional city bikes. It was only come the 1970s that the workshop started to build PRO racing machines. With the success of the Brooklyn Team, the Gios name was thrust into the spotlight, their signature shade of blue quickly becoming iconic. The team had huge success in the hellish cobbled Classics, including Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, clearly demonstrating the resilience and quality of the Gios bicycle brand.

Released in 1986, the Compact was one finest frames ever produced by Gios. Beside the technical innovations already introduced with the Professional model in the same year (such as the patented and waterproof seals for the internal routed rear brake cable and the one piece BB-shell with integrated bridge), the Compact features an adjustable dropout system, the most significant development. In 1988, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the company, GIOS introduced a limited edition of the Compact model. Most of these frames were tailor measured for the client and fit like a glove.