Touring Equipment

Probably a good weight distribution should make it less sluggish, you ride with four panniers, two on the back and two on fork?

I just meant sluggish in terms of when I could feel the difference of adding weight had on my effort/speed. 4 panniers offered good flexibility as it meant you never have a lack of space and the bike felt really balanced. I just found they were often only half full. I don't know how you get the same balance front to rear without 4 panniers though.

Bar bags are super handy for touring.
My bike fully loaded:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4458189377_6127556f0d.jpg

This is the set-up I had in mind.