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I should have stated my assumption that most people in this thread with the Soma/Nice Rack tend to strap stuff on top rather than in the panniers on a day-to-day basis.
A modular system like you describe (HC/Surly/Nitto M18 + Tubus Tara or similar) is a better solution overall, usually the same weight or lighter and generally better at it's job. Having owned a Soma, yes it has rails, but they're not really ideally placed for running panniers, puts the weight quite high and forward relatively to the axle e.g.
This is all based on having owned both the Soma rack and a M18/Tara/Wald combo. The latter being better IMO, with the Nitto being the weakest link (small platform and quite flexy with the longer stays needed for Surly forks).
The larger Surly is about 3 inches wider and the adjustable hardware is going to weigh a fair bit compared with the HC with it's fairly set mounting points.
Still 500g lighter than the Soma, VO or the Nice Rack, combined it with a Tara and it weighs the same as the above but you have a lower mounting point for the panniers than the first two which should help in most scenarios...
STW have more photos of both mounted to bikes http://singletrackworld.com/2015/10/new-surly-front-racks-launched/