Compton switches to Shimano
- By Steve Frothingham
- Published Dec. 12, 2008
- Updated Dec. 13, 2008 at 9:42 PM UTC
Just days before she attempts to win her fifth national cyclocross title, Katie Compton and her husband/mechanic Mark Legg have decided to switch from a hodge podge of Shimano and Campagnolo drivetrain components to a new set of Dura-Ace 7900 shifters and derailleurs.
As discussed in a VeloNews.com article last week, Compton does still not have a shifter sponsor and bought the parts for her two U.S. race bikes at a Colorado retail store. She plans to buy three more sets of the Dura-Ace parts for the bikes she keeps in Europe.
Compton said she decided she preferred the shifting accuracy and comfort of the Shimano levers to Campy. She has long preferred the Campy parts in part because the Italian parts run the shifter cables under the handlebar tape. The new 7900 group is the first Shimano group to do the same.
She is finding the Shimano levers are easier to use in heavy gloves and in bumpy terrain.
Compton said she was not concerned about adjusting to the different shifting method because she has used Shimano parts extensively, including for six years when she piloted a tandem for a blind competitor.
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FILED UNDER: Bikes and Tech / Cyclocross
Steve Frothingham
VeloNews.com editor Steve Frothingham joined the gang in bike-crazy Boulder in early 2008. He is the former executive editor of the trade magazine Bicycle Retailer & Industry News. He also was a reporter and editor for The Associated Press, where he covered three presidential primaries in politics-crazy New Hampshire. His racing career began on a BMX track in 1980 and reached its zenith with several miserable road races as a category 2 in the early 90s. He subsequently retreated to cat. 3, where he has had a consistently mediocre (at best) record ever since, in road, mountain bike and cyclocross events. Follow him on Twitter at @steve_froth