Sorcerer

I want to respond to the question about how different set-ups affect the ride. My response comes from years of bike camping trips, with 90% of them on mountain bike terrain.

First thing I would say is not to rule out panniers and things attached to fork legs, but there are negative aspects to this, one of which is described above:

They can snag on stuff. Sometimes worse, when you have to get of and push up hill the panniers get in the way on the side.

But if you can't deal with that kind of hardship, maybe you should pick easier things to do.

Or carry less gear, and take what you can fit using the inline style of bike packing.

​​​​​​In the case of putting the weight of bags on the rear triangle and on the lower suspension fork stanchions (traditional suspension forks) the weight rides low and is very good. The weight of the gear isn't suspended, but the rider is. Obviously it really helps a lot to have the bags packed nice and snug and the attachment points secure, because they are violently shaken. We find there is no need to make the suspension more firm by increasing air pressures.

Using panniers and fork mounts there is a great capacity to carry gear. Plus they are easy to pack and unload.

Some of the main drawbacks to the huge seat bags are: They have limited capacity. They can sway. When they are heavy they change the bike handling a lot. They usually don't work with seat droppers (one of the reasons we use a rear rack). If you don't need a seat dropper, these seat packs are a great option.

The handlebar rolls and bags can foul the cables and scrub the front tire. If something comes loose from the handlebar it could cause a crash. If the load is heavy up there, it is not good for handling.

On the other hand this is a logical place to carry something.

The frame itself is a great place to carry stuff too, and should be used. When it is too wide it hits the legs. But the weight is in the best place. Typical suspension mountain bikes don't have room for much of anything in the frame though.

By the way, tent poles can be strapped to a straight top tube, or perhaps a down tube (there are some tents that have smaller poles.

I usually bring a hydration pack, but I often strap it on the the top of the rear rack.Some people carry quite a bit in a pack, but I think that's not good because you carry it twice that way.

When we camp we like to bring luxury things like cooking gear, musical instruments, a tent, games, and lanterns. Fast and light packers leave this stuff behind.

Used to use a BOB trailer a lot..These work well. I will use a trailer sometimes. When I drank, it would carry beer to camp easily.