Originally Posted by
AdvXtrm
I see most people just load up the rear of their bike putting little to nothing upfront. To me this makes no sense, as it surely places an undue amount of weight and stress on the rear wheel. I do realize that weight distribution has a great effect on handling, so is that the reason, or is it more a matter of "that's what everyone else does", so I'll do it that way too?
Some wheels can handle a lot more stress than others. A heavy load that overstresses one wheel might not even come close to overstressing a different wheel.
After trying a variety of rear racks, it became clear that rack stability, like frame stability, can be important for good handling.
The rack itself can be more or less stable, and the mounting points and hardware can be more or less stable.
Same with panniers and loads.
You can adapt to noodliness, but rock-solid stability is nice.