Bacchetta Giro 20 with Bafang BBS02B

True, most of the stopping power does come from the front wheel. However the V brake on the front wheel works well. Even though the wheel is only 20" the rim is made from aluminum alloy and there is plenty of surface area so brake heating is not much of an issue. The old V brake on the rear wheel provided 10% of the braking power so it was pretty much useless. Adding the disc to the rear basically made the rear braking power equal to the front. This takes a lot of stress off the front brake pads and adds a big safety margin in case the front brake fails.
 
The main disadvantage of rim brake on a small wheel bike isn't the lack of braking power (there are excellent rim brake calipers and V-brakes) but the rim wear which on a small wheel bike is much faster than on a big wheel bike. Braking in rain and dirt would accelerate the rim wear.

Since rear wheel is larger diameter that front wheel, more braking surface; it is more ideal to keep rear wheel as rim brake and front as disc brake to allow longer rim life.
 
This bike is approx. 15 years old. I have 1000's of miles on it (before the ebike conversion). So far the front rim shows little wear. I change the brake pads regularly. Since this is a commuter bike I don't ever ride off road in the dirt or ride in the rain very often. With the added weight of the motor and battery I care more about overall braking power and less about rim life. This is especially true when riding in traffic. Adding the rear disc significantly reduces the stress on the front brake and rim. If I ever notice that the front rim is beginning to wear significantly I will replace it with a wheel that has a disc brake hub and add a disc to the front. As of now I have two brakes that supply equal stopping power.
 
Just for everyone's information and enjoyment I just finished converting may older Bacchetta Giro 20 recumbent to an Ebike version. Purchased the Bafang BBS02B kit a couple months ago. For the most part installation went pretty smoothly. I had to lengthen the battery power cable that came with the kit. Extender cables are available but cutting the cable and extending it was very easy. I ended up having to make an anti-rotation stop near the bottom bracket so that the motor would not rotate upwards due to the tremendous torque produced. You just can't tighten the nut on the bottom bracket enough to keep the motor from rotating. On a conventional bike this rotation is inhibited by the up tube between the bottom bracket and the head tube. The piece of 1.5 x 0.5 inch aluminum made a good mounting point for the headlight. The kit came with a very nice pannier rack with a battery compartment built in. So far so good. Getting about 40 miles/charge from the 750Wh battery.
I’m curious as to your personal experience, how the bike feel/handling is with the added weight at the end of the boom?
 
I’m curious as to your personal experience, how the bike feel/handling is with the added weight at the end of the boom?
I have been riding this to work for 3 summers now putting about 1400 miles on it. The bike handles just fine. The added weight from the motor on the front end is pretty much balanced out by the battery mounted on the back in the rack. I have gone to 1.75" wide, 60 psi tires (from the original 1.25", 100 psi) to handle the extra weight and smooth out the ride a bit.
 
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