Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

Not sure I understand / get the argument. If it's either a choice to have front-end lively or back-end lively, is it not better to have the front handling lively? Also if you can choose a custom fork for the purposes of a rack, why not begin with a touring-specific frame and spread the load across the bike?

Okay, the handling and feedback of the bike is largely down to the frame, the wall thickness, the width of the tubing, the geometry etc. the fork is secondary, as they usually come in a specific rake and length (as well as full carbon, half carbon, steel etc.)

If you enjoy cycling, but don't want to ride a touring bike that are designed to be as stiff as possible to ensure it feel stable to ride, then a custom front fork and rack mount allow you to still be able to get out of the saddle and sprint without feeling all the weight from the frames.

The alternative option is lightweight touring, including bikepacking, however, I have found that even just bikepacking numb the feedback of the frames a lots compare to a low trail bicycle that takes a couple of front panniers and still retain the feedback of a decent road bike.