I've sold quite a few Ron Cooper Frames through the years, I would guess about 100 or so, and have taken each one for a test ride before releasing it to it's new owner after assembly. Each one rode great! And every client liked his bike, but there are a lot of variables that can influence your sensation of the ride. One important question to ask you about is your weight. The touring bike with longer chainstays and standard reach brakes will also have a longer downtube and fork blades. Leaner riders generally don't have the mass to flex the BB shell as much as heavy riders and might not notice much difference between the two frames other than a more stable ride on the one with the longer wheelbase, However, several of the touring frames that Ron built for me had larger diameter seat stays and thicker section fork blades to resist better the forces anticipated by loaded panniers, as well as heavier top tubes and downtubes. Those bikes rode better with loaded panniers and were much harsher unladen. One thing you might want to do out of curiosity's sake is weigh each frame. If they're made from similar tube sets, the touring frame will be around 6-8 oz heavier. Saying this, I should cover my tracks because little things like steerer tubes,( length of the butt or rifling),dropouts (long, short, vertical, brand of) BB shell (cast or not) and forkcrown can add significant mass using the same tubeset. I have several older road racing frames that have a 41-42" wheelbase that were built with appropriate tubing and are no more flexy than some 39" WB frames I also have. By the way, I have a 1970 Ron Cooper Racing frame 60 cm c/c with a 39.5" wheelbase. It's one of my favorite bikes. It feels fast, lively, and pointed in a way that my 2002 Scandium/carbon frame will never match. I haven't ridden a bad Ron Cooper. Most of the frames that I custom order from Ron have been speced for a given rider and his weight is a factor in choice of tubing in the overall frame design. All of this begs your question, but I'm not sure anyone could give you other than vicarious testimonials about the two frames. Follow your own instinct on this one....ride them both and make your own decision about ride qualities.....and if you can....... buy them both. That solves the problem.
Cheers,
Paul Brown
Cycle Dynamics
Santa Rosa, CA