Dominic Gill is cycling a tandem solo from Alaska to Argentina and picking people up and giving htem rides. We cycled with him for a little while in Baja last winter. In addition to his BOB he also has panniers. He said he liked to keep the heavy stuff in him panniers because it seemed like the bike handled better that way. John found (on the triple) that having the weight in the BOB was better. So - given the fact that Dom's tandem was very light (one person) and he liked the weight on the bike and John's triple was heavy (three people) and he liked the weight in the BOB, the weightdistribution is probably a huge factor here.