Staff Bike Check: Heather’s Trek Checkpoint SL7

Comfortable on long distances but also nimble enough to handle a crit track.

Although my job title is officially Subscriptions Manager, I also look after social media, in-house photography and making sure articles keep moving along to deadline.

This is my 52cm Trek Checkpoint SL7.

It’s really stable and responsive over chunky gravel, but also makes a comfortable and quick road bike with a wheel switch. I currently don’t have any major tweaks planned, but I think I’d benefit more from a proper bike fit before changing anything.

I’m very lucky that my husband and I are the same frame size, so whenever he gets a new bike, I get a new bike. He chose this bike for gravel ultra-racing, but then decided he preferred to ride singlespeed on his Olsen Otepoti. So now I’ve claimed the Trek as mine.

I bonded with the Trek immediately. The carbon gravel bike I’d had previously was far too twitchy (and of dubious quality) so to feel immediately stable and capable on this bike was a dream. My first ride on this bike happened to be during a winter storm and it handled beautifully in dreadful conditions over some really rough terrain – I definitely bonded with it that day.

I do also use this bike as a road bike, just switching out the wheelset for a set of Hunt wheels with Scwalbe Pro One tyres when necessary, including racing a duathlon on it. It’s comfortable on long distances but also nimble enough to handle a crit track.

I will say though, this bike is mainly my commuter at the moment and has done most of its miles this year up and down the Rochdale canal. As capable as this bike is, I do prefer a mountain bike for most of the trails around here and I haven’t been further afield in gravel territory this year. It deserves much more adventure than it’s currently getting, but I’m hoping as I improve my bike handling skills with the confidence boost of suspension, I might find my way back to more interesting riding on this machine.

Specification & geometry

Frame // Trek Checkpoint SL7
Fork // Stock Checkpoint fork
Wheels // Pacenti Forza 30 carbon
Front Tyre // Pirelli Cinturato Gravel
Rear Tyre // Pirelli Cinturato Gravel
Chainset // SRAM Force Carbon CX 11 speed with Stages power meter and 12 speed Wolftooth chainring
Brakes // SRAM Force
Drivetrain // SRAM GX AXS rear derailleur, SRAM Force AXS shifters, 12 speed throughout
Stem // Hope
Handlebar // Zipp XPLR
Seat Post // Carbon – no brand
Saddle // Fizik Argo (of some sort)
Head angle // 71.6°
Effective seat angle // 74.0°
Seat tube length // 520mm
Head tube length // 107mm
Chainstay // 425mm
Wheelbase // 1,005mm
Effective top tube // 536mm
BB height // 290mm
Reach // 379mm

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