WhatAnotherHill

I'm looking at purchasing my first new bike in a number of years. I'm planning on purchasing a Bacchetta Bella, but I have a couple of equipment questions I was hoping other Bacchetta (or LWB) owners could answer. The Bella ATT is no longer made, although I would like a couple of the upgrades it had. One question I have is on disc brakes. I know some riders love them, others choose to pass on them. I m leaning on adding them ($150 upgrade). Any opinions you want to share on them?

Another question I have is on fenders. Again I am leaning towards them. I am currently living in Wisconsin and there can be water in the road from a previous rain, or someone washing their car. Does anyone have positive or negative experience with them on a Bella (20 in front wheel)?

For Bacchetta owners only: My final question is for the 3 bags, (Big Bag, One For All Bag, and Brain Box), which is your favorite, and why.

My riding will be potentially be a "mixed bag" of trails, light touring day and weekend trips and ??? I will probably be mostly in North Central states, but may be relocating to the Southwest. I'm 59 and hitting 250 lbs. With any load the bike will be at the 300 lb limit.

Thanks for your time and input.

osco53

I added the BB7 to the rear of my Tour Easy and It was well worth it, considering my front (ISO/E.T.R.T.O. 451) tire is very lightly loaded to the point of the front brake only contributing IMO about 35% of total braking forces in max (where It Counts most) braking situations.
The expense of a front disk is not worth it, would need a new fork and all that..

Besides I can lock the front at will with one finger,,like I said this scooter has a light front end..

Going with a teflon coated brake cable was a wise mod considering the extremely long cable run on these LWB bents.
I found the 180 mm disk to have plenty of power. I can lock the rear on hot dry clean asphalt if I choose..I know that's bad but I have great modulation all the way down to lock up. This brake also gives me plenty of feel so I can trail brake into corners at speed helping to load the front end so I don't wash out.
I too ride with some gear, me and my junk come in at 200 pounds, I never feel the back brake working hard or fading.

NOTE: My rear wheel was built for disk brakes, the hub had the disk boss and the spokes are stronger for It,,, are yours ? Careful here !
Second Note: It takes a while to bed in the pads, say 50 miles of hard city stop and go.
The first few rides you will think you made a mistake..keep riding and braking, the power will come and when It does you will know why you need a wheel built for disk brakes on a LWB recumbent.
The Bike will really stop fast with control, holding it right before lock up will get you hit from behind If you got DF riders back there...



Me and my gear may be 200 pounds but I'm setting up this trailer, got a 50 pound floor jack in the 20 pound box,, It stops fine,
would barely stop with the rim brake, plus I have an expensive rim I don't want to wear out..

My baby before the disk brake but with the T-cycle Idler with ceramic bearings,,,the thing is absolutely silent....



As for fenders, I don't have them, don't mind getting wet, rarely do. But that front tire has shot some real tasty street water at me a few times, It misses... mostly and my current luggage takes care of the back, I saw no need for added weight.

WhatAnotherHill

Thanks for the information osco53. I walked outside Friday morning to a beautiful day, EXCEPT the streets were wet with a fresh rain. It was a good morning for biking, but....... That pretty much confirmed for me that I wanted to upgrade to disc brakes. With the aluminum rims, my "fears" are probably unfounded, but I wanted to be SURE I had good brakes. A long (long) time ago, I was a paperboy in an urban country area. I would ride my bike (with steel rims) all year long, in all sorts of weather. I remember way too many times where dragging my feet gave me more stopping power than my brake pads did on the wet rims.

My final logic was that I would not regret getting the disc brakes, but I could regret not getting them. It was less expensive to order the bike with them, than to add them after the fact.

osco53

Yeah cable and my single BB7 with disk came to I think $109

delcrossv

I have bikes with both rim brakes and discs. Discs are fine but with a LWB bike with the lightly loaded front wheel, you won't be able to use all the braking power anyway as you'd lock the front wheel up (I've done that on the Ryan LWB with rim brakes) Just something to be aware of. If you're not doing loaded touring, IMO they're overkill. Rim brakes with aluminum rims work fine in the rain- they're not the same as steel rims (which don't work at all when they're wet).

The only bike I have fenders on is the P-38 which I have set up as a commuter. Fenders are a "nice to have".

BlazingPedals

You're considering upgrading a bike that's no longer in production. Does that mean that the frame is disc-capable? I agree with Osco, I'd just put disc on the rear (if the frame can take it.) If the frame isn't disc-capable, then you're SOL.

Dudelsack 

I have a Bacchetta ATT Giro 26 with disc brakes. I love them. I can scrub off speed very quickly. Out west where they have long descents, people have melted their tires with rim brakes. If you're going to do a lot of hilly rides in the West, I'd get the disc brakes.

Stock brakes were BB5's. I replaced them with BB7s which I ordered off eBay and were pretty cheap as I recall. The job is one of those "so simple even I can do it" types, and the BB7s are much better than the BB5s.

Hope that helps.

VegasTriker

One fact that you are going to learn very quickly is that a 20" wheel rotates more revolutions than a larger diameter wheel at the same speed. The result is that it will throw more water at you than you had on a DF with 26" or 700C wheels with the same width tire. I'm lucky enough to live where it rarely rains but I can tell you from the few times I did ride in rain that it really sucks not having fenders on my trike. BTW, used to live in Sauk County along the Wisconsin River. The rural roads were great places to ride.

Retro Grouch 

Huh? The tire transfers water from the road to your bike. A 20" wheel may make more revolutions but it doesn't travel any more linear distance than a 700c wheel. So where might that extra water come from?

BlazingPedals

As I think about it, Vegas may be right about throwing water better, if for the wrong reason. The circumference of the wheel doesn't go any faster, but it curves away more quickly, throwing the water sooner.

trestlehed

Not so: I upgraded my Electra Townie 24 to BB7's.
Brake Therapy Conversion Kit

BlazingPedals

From what pics I can find, the later versions, at least, had disc capability both front and back. So, all you'd need is a new wheelset and the calipers. (Rotors come with the calipers.) And new cabling, of course. You could easily spend $400-500 on the conversion.

jeffh129

Hi whatanotherhill. I'm in Hartland. I have a terratrike rambler trike, Bacchetta Cafe recumbent, and a Rans Cruz Crankforward. Small world