bikingshearer 

Interesting article about loading up for bike touring. The article recommends the way I did my cross-US tour the summer before (1980): rear panniers, sleeping bag and ground on top of the rear rack, and a handlebar bag with the rack that hooked over the handlebars with shock cords down to the front drop-outs. It worked just fine.

By the mid-90s, when I did a 500 mile trip from Mt. Shasta to Yosemite and some shorter tours, low-rider front racks had come to be. They were a distinct improvement, allowing much better fore-and-aft load balance while having negligible adverse effect on handling (when the load is high in the front, handling definitely suffers). Also, on my cross-country trip, the rear wheel was the bane of my existence. I broke I don't know how many spokes, had to have it completely rebuilt in Lincoln, Nebraska, and several times talked a shop into letting me use their vise (for removing the freewheel: I had to tool, but not a vice) and truing stand. That wheel came on the bike (Sekai 2000) and it really was not intended for fully loaded touring, so I can't really blame it, but the vast majority of the weight (luggage and rider) was borne by that rear wheel, and I suspect moving some of the weight to front panniers mounted on low riders would have made a significant difference.

The article did have one good piece of advice I wish I had known or thought of for my trip - thread lock compound for rack bolts. I made it from Livermore CA (my hometown) to 50 miles or so short of Washington DC (my final destination) when one of the rear rack bolts at the rear dropout decided not to see the trip all the way to the end. Fortunately, I had spare spokes and pliers. (Gawd I carried a lot of weight in tools for that trip - with no regrets, I might add.) I was able to attach the rack using a spoke and twisting it with the pliers like a twist tie on a loaf of bread. Elegant? Heck no. Effective? Well, it got me to DC with no further issues.