Originally Posted by
Steve B.
If the OP is bikepacking, as opposed to fully loaded unsupported touring, he’d likely use bar bags, frame bags, etc...... which are preferred over using front and rear racks. Saves a bunch of weight but means you carry less and have to buy some expensive lightweight gear. A whole tread could tangent on this subject.
It might not be worth choosing one bike over another for the fork mounts, but I'd still rather have them than not. One problem I ran into over the summer where my Saturday rides were getting to be close to 10 hours (hopefully longer this year) is the hydro pack dilemma. They are handy, but ruin backside ventilation, which can start to get pretty oppressive on hot and humid days. It would have been nice to stick 2 more bottles on my fork instead some days for sure, or even carry 5 bottles with a hydro pack to go very long w/o a water stop. Larger frame bags can also interfere with, or totally block bottles in the usual two spots.
I only bring this up because I think people often get too obsessed with the parts on a bike without considering how it will actually work for them for the type of riding they will (or at least aspire) to do.