prathmann

Hard to say since the answer depends on how much weight your total load amounts to, the geometry of your particular bike, and your comfort level with any handling idiosynchracies. I try to travel pretty light (around 25 lbs.) and prefer to just use the rear panniers and a few things in a handlebar bag.

But when I was carrying our daughter in a rear child seat and she started getting heavier I noticed that the bike handling was noticeably better if I loaded her accessories (food, extra clothes, dolls, etc.) in my low-rider front panniers - that also helped keep the front wheel on the ground on sharp uphills. And my very first bike camping trip was using our tandem with only a rear rack and panniers. It worked ok, but was not the best way to do things. I found the bike to be almost unmanageable for riding solo (sometimes handy if we wanted to go to different stores to restock) with all the load so far back there and the rear wheel (36 spokes) just barely survived the trip - as soon as we got home spokes started breaking one after another. Later trips had much of the weight loaded on a front rack for the tandem (and a new 48-spoke wheel in the back).

So I certainly see advantages in loading weight up front in some circumstances. I'd suggest you gather all the stuff you plan to take, load it in the rear panniers and on the rear rack and then go for a local ride that has a variety of terrain and road surfaces. If everything feels fine then go ahead and ditch the front rack and panniers.