My lightweight Bikepacking carbon road bike setup
 

Looks good! I've always toured with 4 small panniers and wanted a lightweight setup also. Imagine the big mile days you can pull off in the US, flying across Kansas or Wyoming, moving fast. I'm setting up a similar outfit myself. The hard part is culling equipment. I'm looking at bivy sacks now, and contemplating leaving behind my air mattress for starters. Good luck!

Nice, I went a similar way with mixed vendors on my Jamis what today is called a gravel bike. I can use the same setup on my carbon Domane but I weigh 225 and decided that adding more weight before I lose more weight would be pushing the wheels too close to the limit - so the Jamis is my touring bike with a bike packing setup, replacing my 1995 Trek 520 and traditional pannier approach. I pretty much only do "credit card" style touring - not camping or cooking.

For a recent 3 day tour in Florida, I didn't need the Oveja Front Loader bar bag, just the small handle bar bag add-on. For that trip, I actually didn't even use the top tube bag, either - warm weather made light packiing easier and the Revelate saddle bag and mini-framebag gave me enough room for what I needed to carry. Using SPD pedals and not really planning on much walking meant one pair of shoes was fine for that short trip, too.

The downsides: (1) Had to be careful about strapping up the saddle bag right or it would bounce into the rear tire; (2) Not a good way to hang a tail light to roll-up saddle bags but I jury rigged up some straps to do so. (3) Even the mini-frame bag and side load cages meant I really couldn't remove/insert water bottles while riding.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...02b85f1b52.jpg
Jamis Renegade in bike packing mode

Way to go with the rackless touring.

I interrupted my bike touring career with a decade of long-distance backpacking. I learned the value of a light load and applied that to the bike. I haven't gone rackless yet--I use a rear rack and two Arkel Drylite panniers. That lets me carry an occasional heavy load of food or water, and keep the same set-up for running some heavier errands around home.

Flying across the country is right! On my first shakedown tour with the light load, I easily rode back-to-back centuries. I never rode a century once in decades of heavily loaded touring before that. On a cross-US tour later that year, I rode 17 more centuries, smiling all the way.

Nice rig!

What do you think of the handling compared to a 4 bag setup?

jpescatore...I like the setup of your bike. My only concern, which may just be me, is the stress that your saddlebag is putting on your frame. I realize that your bike is made of steel so it might be a non issue but I had a Specialized Stumpjumper M2 develop a crack in the frame tubing right where the top tube meets the seat tube from a maybe over extended seatpost. Riding offroad might have made the situation worse and it was with a frame made out of a different material. Just my 2 cents...

Chrisp72 - exactly why I decided to buy this bike to replace an 1995 Trek 520 touring bike and not put those bags on my carbon road bike. I tried it for an 85 mile ride and everything fits fine, but I weigh 225 and my weight plus those bags is right at the warranty limit for the carbon bike - and probably above the smart limit for the wheels I use on the carbon bike.

I'm pretty sure the steel Jamis frame with be fine, plus since I'm not camping/cooking, that rear saddle bag has mostly clothese in it, with the heavier stuff next to the seatpost.