Newly re-crowned US National Cyclocross Champion Katie Compton won her eleventh title this month in Austin on a bike she helped develop over the course of her two-year relationship with Trek.
Continuing our annual tradition of looking at Compton's winning bike, we grabbed an exclusive look at her 2015 Trek Boone 9 disc brake bike, fresh off her victory in Austin, with a half lap of the Zilker Park course's mud still coating the tires and pedals (no recycled photos here, see her Trek Boone from 2014 Nationals and Trek Crockett from 2013 Nationals for past bike photos).
We also chatted with husband Mark Legg-Compton about Compton's setup including pedal choices and the chain drop issues she face earlier in the season. See more of our ever-growing 2015 National Championship bike profiles here.
The cantilever Trek Boone version is lighter overall by nearly a pound, says Legg-Compton, with less weight up high on the handlebars especially, but the disc calipers offer more clearance at the rim, and in conditions of sticky mud, that could be a big advantage, not to mention the improved braking consistency.
“She doesn’t like the extra weight on the bars, because it affects the way the bike handles,” Legg-Compton told Cyclocross Magazine. But on days like Monday at Nationals, on muddy courses, she opts for the extra weight and extra mud clearance of the disc brake Trek Boone.
Compton’s hydraulic R785 STI levers and disc brakes offered better mud clearance on race day in Austin, but the extra weight on her bars impacts the handling and steering, and is the reason she prefers her canti model for most races, including Tabor. © Cyclocross Magazine
