extra small frame

drfish

I need your collective help. As a family we have toured for most of the summer for the last 10 years. My youngest at the age of 11 is short in stature but tall in bicycle experience, having toured since she could sit on a bike seat on the tag along, tandem and solo bike. Problem is that she has outgrown her 24 inch road bike frame, and we need something bigger but still small.

Having toured long enough she has some definite likes and dislikes she wants, a road style bike with drop bars, flexible as to wheel size, wants a triple and does not really like disc brakes, would like a low-rider unconcerned with handle bar bag.

She is only 4 foot 6 inches stand over needs to be less than 27 inches. I was thinking something like a LHT with 26 inch wheels but the smallest frame is too big. I have tried mountain bike frames but even the smaller sizes seem to have a long top tube.

A couple of other options are the Rocky Mountain Sherpa, and the Davinci Caribou but both have 700 c wheels which seem sort of odd considering the extra small frame size.

Any frames out there that take 26 inch wheels have short top tubes with the necessary braze ons for racks and bottles that would be suitable for a touring rig???

cruisin

There are frames out there.
My 9 year old daughter rides a 14.5 inch mountain bike frame with 26 inch wheels. Hers is a Merida from their comfort range which had shorter top tubes.
I don't know what Merida have now as this bike is about 4 years old and has been handed down from my older son. The only modification is a shorter stem which is changed as the rider grows and slightly narrower bars.
There are also some companies that do women specific models which usually have shorter top tubes and come in small size frames.