Originally Posted by djb

Ya, my troll was generally well behaved also with a good load. As you say, distributing it around and low makes a big difference. I'm a lot lighter than you, so tend to notice extra weight, but then there's the factor of getting more and more touring fit, so extra weight doesn't affect as much when we are stronger.
On the central america trip, I did carry more spares and stuff, so a bit heavier than usual due to spare tire etc etc, but I have the bike set up with good low gearing--which I'm sure will be handy with steep stuff in Scotland.

Here's the lump by the way