Originally Posted by
bikiola
Yeah, thats what I'm afraid of - it seems that with front rack you always need to think really hard about distributing weight evenly or you get real steering problems. Whereas with the back, while that helps tremendously for long rides, you can kind of wing it and learn to compensate and the issue with only one pannier (or generally uneven packing) is more that of drag and weight than of steering.. Does that make sense? The other option is *both* but with the Troll and Big Apple 2.35, bikes starting to get plenty heavy :-(
Yes, weight distribution is more of an "issue" in the front than in the back...but it's relative. You really need to try it to decide if that issue is an issue for you or not.
Personally, I can ride my bike just fine with a really significantly unbalanced load, so long as it's low to the ground. I can't ride with my hands off the bars, but I don't notice any instability, really. I can compensate the steering with my pinky finger. It's not a problem for me!