Help, need a race bike for daughter.

[veloman]

Hi, I need to buy a road race bike for my 12 year old daughter, she has outgrown the last one and need some advice. She races mainly flat criterium style courses in France which usually culminate in a sprint. She is on restricted gearing so I need a 10 speed setup to get the correct cassette. Wheels not too important as she will be using tubs for racing. Budgeting somewhere around £1600 (for bike, not wheels)

Any thoughts on make / models.
Does it make sense to get a female specific bike or is there (other than contact points) no real difference?
Is carbon now the material of choice for racing?
Are aero frames just hype?

Anything else I should consider?

 

[Dusty Bin]

Depending on how tall she is, any small-framed adult bike should be able to be adapted to fit. Aero frames are not particularly important in closed circuit races, carbon frames may well give you a lighter overall bike, which will be useful. Most of the u12/u14/u16 girls I see racing are not on 'female-specific' bikes (including my daughter who rides in u14) and as far as I can tell, the 'female specific' thing is mostly marketing hype anyway.

 

[veloman]

Thought as much about the female specific thing. Size wise I am OK, small adult frame will fit fine. Now just a matter of getting her a bike..

Slightly off subject, I am looking at getting across to the UK next year with the kids for a few races, are there any particular race series to look out for?

 

[Dusty Bin]

Depends where you will be staying. The National Youth Series is worth looking at, as these tend to attract the best national riders - but the 2014 dates are not released yet.