I tend to agree with you. If I can get the bike loaded up with a front and rear rack, and keep the rack platform free for whatever odds and ends come my way, I'm happy. But I also found that I like not having a front rack when the bike is unloaded, so eliminating it and carrying gear on the handlbars and forks has been nice. And I've found that my S & S bike is kind of a tight fit in its bag. It'd be nice to not have to worry about a rear rack in that situation. So my next trip may involve a straight bike-packing set up just because it's easier to fly with that stuff and avoid oversize/overweight charges. If not for that, I would never take the rear rack off of my bike. It's too useful.

A 2-person Sierra designs, Lightning 2 (older model double wall). The tent is about 3.5 lbs.; while not an UL tent it is compact and light enough. IMO the bags tents come in from the manufacturer are more suitable for storage than when in actual use. Shipping bag's sizes are variable, and depend on the manufacturer; bag size has very little to do with actual tent size.

I've been using compression sacks to pack my tents for backpacking , climbing, and cycling for at least 30 years, with no apparent ill effects. They are stored in a large breathable sack for storage at home.

My short trail Bike Friday , handles better with a front load..

To those worried about carrying their tent poles, don't forget you can order tent poles for any tent that are broken into smaller segments that fit in smaller places. Just a thought when thinking about reducing the number of panniers and dry rack bags you carry.

I hated the way my Surly LHT handled with front and rear panniers. Steering was unpleasant for me. I took off the front rack and bags and now tour with just the rear panniers and a very light dry bag on the rack in back. I know I'm overloaded in the back, but I have not felt that the handling is compromised in any way. Getting that weight off the front of the bike has mde riding a joy again.
I do keep a medium/large handlebar bag for big camera and sundries.

The handlebar bag I use on the touring bike (Ortlieb Ultimate 6) is too small for anything besides valuables, electronics, maps, and snacks.
This way it's easy to take it with me when I'm off the bike sight-seeing.
Rain gear, arm/leg warmers, warmer clothing all has to be stored elsewhere. The Carradice Nelson fit this purpose nicely, and is easy to deal with for food purchases for dinner on the way to camp.

What you describe as being carried in your front bag all fits in the Acorn front bag on my distance bike, but that's a different, lighter, and much faster vehicle with a mini-front rack to support the bag. The bag never gets removed from this bike as I use it for multi-day (and shorter) riding and never for real touring with sight-seeing stops.

I can't ever remember carrying my tent poles in the same bag as my tent, ether backpacking, climbing, or cycle touring. Heck, I don't even do it car camping.

My poles either go inside my rack pack or under the bungee cords on the outside. It sort of depends how I feel that day:)
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...IMG_1974-2.jpg

This is my tent and rainfly compressed to a height not much bigger than my 20 oz. (0.6L) water bottle. The volume of the compressed bag is a little more than half the volume of the 8.4L bag when it is empty and not compressed.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...aterbottle.jpg

I did the exact opposite. I found the uphills with the LHT back-loaded were a pain. Front wheel always wanted to lift up. Moving the weight to the front fixed that. It does change the handling, though, for sure. I remember taking a break during a trip and riding for a few miles without my gear on my bike. Suddenly the steering felt squirrely as anything. Took a few miles before I got used to it, and it started to feel normal again.

I have tried to stuff everything into two front bags which is possible but it means I have to stay way too organized to get everything to fit in and it is much too tight. I would rather simply distribute everything loosely over four bags. Plus, I think the weight distribution is better that way. Regarding the tent debate, I use the cylindrical tent bag and strap it to the top of the rear rack. In case of rain, I have a cover to keep the tent dry. Really, it just boils down to "different strokes for different folks."

I suspect if I tried to climb steep hills I would experience the lifting but I'm getting to old to climb any hills. I too love taking the load off the bike after a long days ride and enjoying the bike unladen. Makes me want to take a credit card tour on an 18 lb road bike, and do some 100 mile days

I won't say that front only is flat out better, but I have found it very satisfactory. A couple points:

1. Gusting wind... I rode the Pacific coast with front only and didn't notice that side wind was any more of an issue than with rear panniers. Maybe it depends on the distribution of area relative to the axis if the head tube and a different setup might be different. It is a different feel, but it wasn't like I was getting blown around more.
2. Sluggish steering... I don't find that I typically steer a bike so much by turning the bars as by leaning. The turning of the bars is secondary after the turn is initiated. If going very slowly that becomes less true, but not until going quite slowly. The result is that steering is just fine. The bike does feel different, but I actually find that the "wag the dog" feel of rear panniers that cyccommute mentioned might be worse.

I'm not sure what tents you guys are using but I've owned several different tents from several different manufacturers and never had one that the bag was way oversized compared to the tent. In most cases, the stuff sack for the tent is almost too small, requiring careful rolling of the tent to ensure that it will fit in the bag.

I will say that I'm careful about choosing a tent with the shortest poles I can get away with. One of the reasons I've never owned a dome tent is that the poles were always longer (21" packed size) than A-framed tents (18" to 19" packed size. The tents I've owned have always sat on the rear deck perpendicular to the rack and about the same width as the panniers or even slightly narrower.

I have looked at putting the tent on the rack longitudinally but never like how it carried. I couldn't imagine trying to carry it under the top tube nor the down tube. Both of those places are already taken with a water bottle and a pump.

Where can you order them? I've never heard of that option.

Google "custom tent poles"
Many suppliers:https://www.google.com/search?q=cust...m+tent+poles&*

More DIY than "you can order tent poles for any tent". One implies that you can just order the poles to fit existing tents while the other is a fair amount of work and not a small investment to make your own poles.

knock yourself out dude.

knock yourself out dude.

I agree. Quite a few years ago I spent a week credit-card touring, including a lot of climbing and descending, with only front panniers. They're nice. Bikes are generally rear-heavy with just your body on them, so front-only panniers tend to improve balance a bit.