The Carpenter

My eleven year old daughter is wanting to race crits. She is already a seasoned track racer(as seasoned as an eleven year old can be anyways. 2005 state champ.)

My question is; I want to know if there is an effective body measurement to take to (help) determin correct top tube length? She is tall for her age, 5'-3" 115 pounds of pure muscle. I'm trying to determin if she should have a womens specific bike or not. I know there are other factors involved with womens specific, like hand size and stem length, but I can change the stem if needed and her hands are almost as long as mine. I'm looking to buy (maybe) on line as I did with her track bike, if I can figure the top tube out. I would rather go with that, than stand over alone.

Thanks

puddin' legs

See if you can get her into a Junior program. They'll have loads of coaching/fit advice and information for very little $$$ and be happy to have an age group state champion in their midst. I wouldn't begin to trust the judgement of strangers (nor give any specific advice) on a bike forum about your daughter's bike sizing needs. It's much more important to be developing non-virtual resources, social and cycling contacts if you haven't/aren't already. This will do the most to help both of you up the learning curve and become involved in the best part of the sport: the people.

Wildwood 

This is excellent advice, get her into a program with real coaches and other kids to keep her motivation high. My 13 yo daughter rides a fair amount but is not motivated to train or race, I only encourage, maybe I should push a bit harder.