Pro Bike: Katie Compton’s Trek

Katie Compton is racing for the North America-based Trek Cyclocross Collective (CXC) this season. Her bike is an aluminum prototype as she and Trek are still polishing the geometry for their next 52cm race bike. Of course, being the reigning elite national champion, her Trek sports the full red, white and blue livery. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Compton rides Bontrager components and a SRAM Red drivetrain. Her brake levers are adjusted to be close to the bar. Mechanic and husband Mark Legg-Compton said that is about 11 turns of the set screw to reach Katie's desired reach. Notice also the light blue Bike Pure headset spacer. Bike Pure is a foundation Compton has supported for years. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Compton has ridden Dugast tubulars for years, but after leaving Rabobank over the summer, that sponsorship fell to the wayside. Here, Compton is riding prototype FMB mud tires. The casing is latex, much like a tubular's inner tube, which makes these as supple as cotton but much more durable and resistant to dry rot. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Legg-Compton roughs up the braking surface of all of Compton's race wheels to improve braking. He also sands her Bontrager cork pads brake pads every race right before she heads to the start line. The Bontrager Aeolus 3's have good braking out of the box, so these must stop on a dime. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Wickw‘rks chainrings are the go-to choice for many of the female riders, as they offer a 44t-34t combination. Compton rides Crank Brothers Egg Beater 11 pedals. Her SRAM Red crankarms are 175mm, long for a rider her height, but she has gotten used to them after racing on a tandem team in the Paralympics. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Compton's bikes get a novel "Two-Face" paint job. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

An inline barrel adjuster is commonplace on a 'cross bike. It helps riders tune the rear derailleur should something go wrong when it's a good distance to the next pit. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Compton, like all of the CXC team riders, rides Avid Shorty Ultimate brakes. However, Compton's are a special-edition red, white and blue. Legg-Compton shrink-wraps all of the cable ends so as not to crush the cable. They also have a cleaner look than normal cable ends. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Now here is something special. Compton is riding prototype SRAM Red cassettes. All we could learn from SRAM is that they are prototype cyclocross cassettes. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

The cassette is machined out all around to shed mud. There are no elastomers, like the production SRAM Red 2012 cassette, which adds mud clearance. However, Legg-Compton said that the lack of elastomers also makes it a bit noisier than the standard Red cassette. He also added that the shifts are very quick with this new design. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Some creative angles show SRAM Red logos below the teeth, which tells us these prototype cassettes are getting close to production. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

There's no mistaking whose bikes these are. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Compton opts for an Endura XD ceramic bottom bracket. According to Legg-Compton is one the most durable he's used. There's also no mistaking who the wrench is behind this bike. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com