Comparing the gears on two bikes

[IBrakeforPastry]

I'm looking at two bikes now, both described as straight bar road bikes.

Bike #1: crank 50/39/30, cassette 12-27.

Bike #2: crank 48/36/26, cassette 11-32.

What do you see when you look at these combinations? Is bike #1 geared much higher than #2? I like the lower options on #2, as long as it's not too low. I don't ride for speed, but I occasionally need to keep up with a friend of mine ;)

Otherwise, the bikes are very similar and I need a tie-breaker.

[Blueberry]

This will spit out more data than you need: http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

[DebW]

Figure out what gear you are most likely to ride on the flats. If that falls on the middle chainring and in the middle of the cassette, I think you are better off. That way you can shift with only your rear derailleur on mild rolling hills without hitting cross-over gears and shifting your front derailleur constantly (which required an almost-simultaneous shift of the rear derailleur to make a small gearing step).

[ny biker]

This will spit out more data than you need: http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

+1.