Bike and gear designers are pretty good these days, the way some frames are designed to take and handle loads positioned in different places depending on it's targeted use, bikepacking, loaded touring, light touring etc. My Long Haul Trucker is a great handling machine but in a slow tourer type way but when it is fully loaded front and rear with bar bag as well, it handles beautifully, really neutral and there is no feeling of being heavy and unwieldy, just a rock steady ride. My Mercian, usually only carries my trunk bag but when I put the panniers on the other day for the 25mile commute I had to carry my boots, jacket etc as well as everything else as I left nothing at work the day before. I went to lift it out the door and thought the back end was heavy, put the bags on the scale and they were over 6 kilo, anyway, I thought this will be fun, as well as slow me up, but I never felt the weight at all, even on the long slug up out of town to work. I was really impressed, I have ridden some machines where you knew how many pencils were in the bag due to the way it handled.
The Genesis is designed to carry stuff and for carrying equipment, you can't go past Ortlieb. So between them you have a great setup that as long as it's packed evenly, should be about the best.
You will have to load it up and head up this way for a weekend ride this summer. I am trying to make as ort of randonnuer type campout weekend. Two days easy riding on dirt roads and singletrack tarmac/gravel and a nice wildcamp overnight. Sat late morning through to Sunday late lunch, give people time to get there and get home.
Jamie
I had a great weekend, as is usual with a singlespeed event 
