Thank you BigBlueToe for your thoughts and input.

In regards to the sapce for racks and panniers, this bike is already setup and has been more than tested with all of the panniers and such on it. The brakes (at this point) are not going to be touched or changed. I have already mounted my VBrakes with Koolstop's and purchased Tektra Long pull brakes for drops. I too have felt that weary feeling of having the brakes get hot while braking downhill on tour. This I am willing to deal with for now, as it only happened once doing 45mph downhill and about 100lbs worth of crap loaded.