Originally Posted by
neilfein
You may want to rethink handlebar bags. The point isn't so much to add carrying capacity, but convenience. Whatever you might need while on the bike goes there, as well as wallet and keys, and you can just grab the bag when you leave the bike. It saves you some rooting through yoru panniers.
+1
Gearing up for my first tour, I was adamantly against having a handlebar bag. A couple people managed to convince me to get one, and after just a couple days I was sold. Any time you want to take pictures, the camera's right there in front of you, you can check your map pretty easily and grab other maps out from inside the bag, and being able to just reach in the bag and grab a handful of trail mix or whatever made some of the longer burns far more enjoyable.