>>1746970I basically have the bike, frame bag, and rear rack of pic related. It’s built to the same durability category of Kona’s XC hei hei mtbs (one category above their gravel bikes like the Rove) and apparently has a slightly thicker tubing than normal. The steel rack bolts to the steel dropouts and seems pretty standard but Idk Ive never used racks before. The bike fits 2.5” max but comes with 2.25”.
I was looking at either these panniers
https://rockgeist.com/product/microwave-panniers/ or a handlebar harness for strapping cylinder bags to (Rockgeist’s $180 handlebar harness design can be replicated with China parts for like $50 so that’s an option too)
Really I’m just questioning where the best place to put weight would be after the frame bag, the panniers seem super convenient to open and keep the weight lower, but everyone on the internet says panniers are worse handling than seatbags or bag-on-rack, but they’re also probably comparing 12L seatbags to 60L panniers which is my issue. Everyone seems to love handlebar bags, but they’re also saying to always keep weight off your fork and bars if possible. I’m comparing similar weight and volume, but just in different places and it’s really hard to get good answers
