Some peeps love loads of weight on the front, some people don't.
I think it depends on bike geometry and hilliness of the terrain.
.. and the psychology of the owner!
Heavy front, slow steering, so stable and steady. Great for crossing Australia.
Light front, lively steering, more control detail.
Great for riding over fire roads in the Alps!
I’m not a fan of low front mount bags. I have trouble riding the white line marking the road edge. This is important as a most of our paved rural roads have a loose gravel shoulder. I like the weight evenly distributed front to rear. In the summer you can’t find a camp site, they’re all full or they won’t accept tents. You have to carry your kitchen, bedroom, water purifier and spares, 34 kg fully packed. I crash in Le bush when it starts to get dark. I modified a vintage rear rack from my junk stash to become a front rack. I used a hard sided small lightweight cooler on top of that. I used a junk stash vintage Swiss rear rack that I straightened as best I could and put another hard sided, small lightweight cooler on top. These coolers are bolted to the racks so they won’t move. Other bags can be tied on top and nothing moves or is crushed on the bottom. I use small gravel panniers. The fork mount bottle cages are mounted with hose clamps as I didn’t feel comfortable drilling and installing rivet nuts. I used rivet nuts for the frame bottle mounts. It’s an old touring frame with 29er double walled mountain bike rims laced to vintage hubs. The 38 mm tires required me to dimple the chainstays. This bike is easy to control, rides straight with no wobbles while cranking and everything stays put on the bike. I ride on a mix of highway, rural pavement and a lot of gravel. I also ride this bike with a large ATV fanny pack and a kayak chest pack. I’ve gone as far as 250 km on this bike. The big problem, besides finding a place to crash, and I mean potato out like your dead, is heat and finding enough hydration. Coyotes have bothered me at night, but that’s been it, no mountain lions, wolves or bears. I’ve seen wolf scat and tracks on gravel when riding and had one bear run across in front of me and then beside me going rear ward. Ive seen a lot of timber wolves but I was always driving. I’ve only seen two cougars, once hiking and once in my car. It seems that occasionally two or three deer mistake me for another deer and run along beside me, paralleling me in the woods.
My setup involves a rack custom designed for my specific frame with a wald 139 zap strapped onto it. I use an ILE Porteur rack bag for luggage or I toss a waterproof duffle into the basket and strap everything down with a bungee.
I like the weight evenly distributed front to rear. In the summer you can’t find a camp site, they’re all full or they won’t accept tents. You have to carry your kitchen, bedroom, water purifier and spares, 34 kg fully packed. I crash in Le bush when it starts to get dark. I modified a vintage rear rack from my junk stash to become a front rack. I used a hard sided small lightweight cooler on top of that. I used a junk stash vintage Swiss rear rack that I straightened as best I could and put another hard sided, small lightweight cooler on top. These coolers are bolted to the racks so they won’t move. Other bags can be tied on top and nothing moves or is crushed on the bottom. I use small gravel panniers. The fork mount bottle cages are mounted with hose clamps as I didn’t feel comfortable drilling and installing rivet nuts. I used rivet nuts for the frame bottle mounts. It’s an old touring frame with 29er double walled mountain bike rims laced to vintage hubs. The 38 mm tires required me to dimple the chainstays. This bike is easy to control, rides straight with no wobbles while cranking and everything stays put on the bike. I ride on a mix of highway, rural pavement and a lot of gravel. I also ride this bike with a large ATV fanny pack and a kayak chest pack. I’ve gone as far as 250 km on this bike. The big problem, besides finding a place to crash, and I mean potato out like your dead, is heat and finding enough hydration. Coyotes have bothered me at night, but that’s been it, no mountain lions, wolves or bears. I’ve seen wolf scat and tracks on gravel when riding and had one bear run across in front of me and then beside me going rear ward. Ive seen a lot of timber wolves but I was always driving. I’ve only seen two cougars, once hiking and once in my car. It seems that occasionally two or three deer mistake me for another deer and run along beside me, paralleling me in the woods.
