Clifton CC

Hi, I'd be grateful for advice on suitable bikes for my daughter to continue her circuit racing at Richard Dunn in Bradford. She uses a raleigh strada at the moment but I said I'd go halves with her on something lighter & faster. From your experience, can you recommend a few suitable bikes at an affordable price? She's a tall 12 year old & seems to be growing fast.
Thanks in advance for your help

Hi Pip, can you confirm how tall your daughter is? There is some guidance on our website I have pasted to content below. Once I know her height I can give you some options.

Bikes

Buying the right bike, size recommendations and things to watch out for. First of all make sure you get the right frames size, see table below. Then that the components such as handle bars/chainset fit the rider.

Handle bar stem length 80-100mm (depending on riders size)
Handle bar width 390mm (width of the rider's shoulders) with a compact drop for smaller hands
Chainset crank length 160/165 or 170mm.
Gearing
You should also consider the maximum gear size, young riders should not be using huge adult gears!!! Typically for a 15 - 16 year old 52 teeth chainring & smallest rear of 16 teeth (BBB BCS-10S 10 Speed Cassette 16-25 teeth)


Frame Size Guide

Height of rider Suggested frame size

144-152cm 48.3cm (19’’)

152-158cm 49.5cm (19.5’’)

158-163cm 50.8cm (20’’)

163-168cm 52.1cm (20.5’’)

168-173cm 53.3cm (21’’)

173-178cm 54.6cm (22’’)

178-183cm 55.9cm (22.5’’)

For smaller riders, Isla Bikes make some really good starter bikes, they are not cheap but are well built with quality components and retain their value. So they can be passed down or sold quite easily. Once you get onto 700c wheels (standard road wheel size) there are more options on the market, one of the best routes is a custom build. Buy a frame and build the correct bike around the rider.

Hi AJ,
thanks for your reply. My daughter is currently 166cm tall & growing quickly.
Her Raleigh is an 18" frame with 700c wheels & fits her nicely at the moment.
I've restricted the gearing to 6.45 m/dev to suit her British cycling category,(B), which in practical terms means 5th gear on the cassette.
The bike weighs 12kg & in her last race, over 25km, she was only beaten by half a lap in her category, which makes me think it might be time to get her something a bit lighter.
Cheers,
Pip

Hi Pip ok ideally you want the gear limit to be the biggest on the cassette. For example my daughter who is a Youth A, U16 rides 52/39 chainrings and 26-16 cassette. Bike wise you are looking at 51-53cm what is your budget?

Hi AJ, budget? Well, like any Yorkshireman, as little as possible! But at a push £800. Cheers, pip

I bought my daughter the ladies Boardman at this price with triple butted aluminium frame, ladies geometry, carbon fork, ladies specific short reach handlebars, ladies saddle, SRAM Apex groupset. I have to say I'm really impressed with it - real quality. Size will be fine if she's 166 cm. You might be best getting a specific cassette as per AJs c 'n p above to sort the gearing but this would apply to any bike you buy...