Originally Posted by
noglider
Whether having a load on the front works well depends on the design of the bike and the preference of the rider. If you haven't tried it, you might think it's a terrible idea. For many, it works just fine, even a gigantic load. Some people have tried it and found it to work badly but they tried it on a bike that doesn't like front loads. You need the right kind of bike, and I can't say exactly what that is.
Long ago, I made a commuter bike out of an old 1970s Motobecane Nomad frameset. I noticed it rode BETTER when it had a front load on it. I can't explain that.
I've seen the pure rando blog guys say the same thing about their favorite frames, that loading up a handlebar bag on the right bike makes it handle better. I'll have to feel it to believe it.
That said, I really don't think it's ALL in the bike, I think a good amount is in the head. I'm pretty sure I could take a lot of guys in here who say front loads ride like crap, and let them ride bikes that *I* feel ride better with front loads versus back, and they wouldn't change their tune. Because both change handling, and if you're used to the dead weight in the back feel with a misleadingly responsive front end (which doesn't actually make bike handling more responsive) you'll probably stick with it. I still feel that on the right bike, not only a low-mid trail rando bike though, that the handling is much preferable, but it does have a much more noticeable starting feel with that weight up front. Once you are used to needing to make those slightly heavier inputs though, you find it's extremely responsive and the back end acts like it should.