Loading up a Mercury

[PH]

My normal touring has been for a maximum of a couple of weeks and more often less, the majority of it long weekends to a week.  For this I'm quite happy to compromise a bit on kit in order to keep the weight down and maximise the mileage.  My full camping load amounts of 12kg including the luggage and is packed in a pair of small panniers (Ortlieb Front rollers), a Carradice saddlebag and a bar bag.  The Mercury handles this OK, it's noticeable for the first few miles and then forgotten unless getting out of the saddle which requires some extra care.
However - I'm contemplating a longer tour next year and am wondering which bike to use.  In every other way the Merc is first choice, but I'd have to increase the luggage capacity.  I have the 853 fork so loading that up isn't an option and I wouldn't fancy adding anymore to the rear.  So amongst the things I'm considering is an fork swap, which brings me to the questions (Finally!)
Has anyone toured with four panniers on a Mercury?  Which fork?  How did you find it?  V or disc?  I have a disc wheel and brake on another bike I could borrow, swapping the fork is simple enough.   Another alternative to distribute the weight would be a frame bag, anyone use these?  I've also considered a trailer, I used one before behind an Audax bike and quite liked it, except it made train travel complicated.  Or there's always the tough it out option and don't carry any extras...
Any thoughts?

[julk]

I find a Revelate Tangle bag good for the heavy metal items.
This keeps these things within the frame in the middle of the bike and still room for a bike bottle.
There are a variety of brands out there now.

[mickeg]

A frame bag that fits in the triangle can hold a lot of weight, but the volume capacity is limited, much more limited than a pair of front panniers.  But it can be even tougher finding a good bag that fits.  I saw a bargain on Ebay, bought it as a roll of the dice, found it worked well in the front part of my Nomad triangle but I had to add a strap to the front to go around my head tube.

Frame bags can damage the paint if you are not careful. 

[PH]

A frame bag that fits in the triangle can hold a lot of weight, but the volume capacity is limited, much more limited than a pair of front panniers.

Good point and it is weight distribution rather than volume that I'd like to distribute. Despite current fashions, it's hard to see that the traditional four pannier setup can be beaten.  On a short tour where it is mostly about the cycling, I would resent adding a couple of kg of rack and bags to carry a few extra bits, but this tour I'll be a lot less fussed.  If I'm going to do that, the question really is whether the Mercury is the best bike to do it to (I have others  )

[John Saxby]

Below, I've attached a photo of my Raven, loaded with camping gear for a short mid-summer tour this past June.

My setup & requirements may not translate directly to your Merc, but a few points may be relevant:

• my rear rack is a Tubus Vega, wight as mounted approx 360 gms
• my tent, plus tarp, extra pole and a few extra pegs sit atop the rack, weight about 1.5 kg. Without the extra pole & tarp, weight drops to just under a kilo -- but I like the tarp & extra pole for the freestanding feature and the protection against rain.
• the frame bag, a Revelate Tangle large, carries rain gear and my bike lock
• rear panniers are Arkel Dauphin waterproofs, 32 litres but far from full.  Empty, together they weigh about 2 kgs.  I have a pair of Arkel Dry-lites, which weight a bit more than 500 gms, but  they weren't quite big enough to carry food, clothing, and cookware   On a longer tour, I'd use the Dry-lites on the back and the Dauphins on the front of the bike, the latter carrying bulkier and lighter stuff like clothes, sleeping bag & mattress.
• handlebar bag is a small Arkel item -- waterproof, capacity about 7 litres, weight empty, with mounting hardware a bit less than a kilo.  Heavier than I'd like, but supremely useful and handy, hence better than anything else I've found which is also lighter.

Hope that's useful,

Cheers,  J.

[PH]

Thanks John and julk, that frame bag looks good, though I don't think it has the extra capacity I was thinking of, though that's not set in stone.
The Raven is pretty much the perfect bike for four pannier touring, my Roholff started life in one, it'll be on here somewhere from 15 years ago, where does the time go...
For the riding I mostly do, the Mercury suits me better, though as this shows you can't have everything...