Originally Posted by
Nightshade
I'm not one for front racks due to the pendulum effect that always happens at the front when weighted. NOT good at all!
That would depend on the geometry of the bike. A bike with a lot of trail would not work with a front load, whereas a bike with minimal trail would handle fine with a front load.
Take a look at
this kogswell that is available with different forks depending on the intended use, one of which is for a porteur bike carrying front loads.
Here is what Vintage Bicycle Quarterly wrote about the version with the low trail fork:
"25 mm trail bike
This bike works great with a heavy load on the front. The ability to ride no-hands is not at all affected by the
load. We even put a 6 kg (13.2 lbs.) load in the bag, with no ill effects."
Kogswell also has a handy
online calculator where you input the fork offset, head tube angle and the tire diameter and it spits out the trail, so you can determine whether your bike can handle a front load.