I was primarily touring with rear rack/panniers on my Vaya with a handlebar bag until I ran across an old jim blackburn front rack in a bike junkyard pile...i'm a total convert to the front rack with a large saddle bag now. I may carry less stuff over all, but it handles and tracks, especially at speed, much better than I expected. I had the biggest, dopiest smile on my face the first time I took it out with that setup.