My core camping gear weighs about 9 pounds. It's the stuff I could theoretically drop in a go lite backpack and disappear down the trail for months with, if I could still walk. It still works out to a lot of stuff. Tent (or alternatives), sleeping bag, and I like to carry a 3/8" foam mat. Those are three things that don't fit into my paniers, so they end up getting strapped the back rack which is not large enough for them. And there can be extra items that get attached there also. So I prefer the top shelf on the front rack. Beko's approach is smart, I wish I had thought of that, because by themselves the small mountain racks would not be enough for me. I'm looking at something like the pic below. I don't like the transverse mounting postion, but the high low idea is good. Beckman makes a front rack called the Low/High Front Rack, but it doesn't get the bags as low as they can be on ashphalt.