The Silca Mattone is a slick seat pack that has room for my essentials (tube, tire levers, CO2). I like how it attaches to the saddle with a thick rubber strap and the boa closure, so no unwanted rubbing of plastic or metal on the saddle or seat post. I don't understand how it could be accessed while attached to the bike (as claimed by the product description), but that's alright, I would typically take a seat pack off the bike when repairing a flat anyway. I haven't tested the water-resistance yet.
I like the XLAB top-tube bags. They are lightweight, aerodynamic, and provide easy access. No more stopping, getting off my bike, unzipping my under-the-saddle bag, rooting around and hoping nothing falls out. I got the Stealth Pocket 100 for my race day bike. I tried the Stealth Pocket 400c for my training bikes but found it too narrow to hold my training day needs. I returned it and got the Rocket Pocket XL. It has room to hold my emergency tire stuff, my flip phone, hydration packs, with room to spare! And it sits below the top of my headsets for good aerodynamics!
I bought the medium Grid bag. It is a very sturdy and well constructed bag, but slimmer than I expected. Also, if you plan to hang a Garmin Varia off the back light strap, it will sag and aim pretty much down. You really need to be creative to fit much into the bag. I had to get a TPU tube and a smaller multi-tool, rearrange stuff a bit, but now have enough room for 700c TPU tube, multitool(with tubeless plugger), CO2 inflator, tire lever and Tyre Glider tool, and thin rubber gloves and paper towel . Anything more would require the large bag. It really locks into place under the seat. Varia needs to mount on the bike seat tube though, instead of the back of the bag.
Fitted to 2015 Raleigh RXC Disc, 56cm. Even with a fairly narrow, albeit flat top tube and a slammed stem, the profile is great. Slightly wider than my bike's top tube(because my bike is an older Gen), so when standing on steep pitches, there is slight thigh rub, but nothing that was bothersome. Zippers are high quality and worked fast when pulling/placing things fast on single track.
I left the partition in to have my Samsung Galaxy S21 on one side and on the other: 1x Stratch Chew, 1x rice cake, 1x Skratch energy bar, and 2x skratch single hydration mix packets in a small ziplock bag. With the partition removed, there's a ton of space.
I used the top tube and steer-tube straps,.as my bike doesnt have bolt mounts(this bento can do either). The base of the bento is grippy. The straps are grippy and super effective. Did a knarly gravel race in BC and they did not budge.
Also got the smaller bento that i could see myself using for daily rides or to store the rando stuff on my XC rig. Among other options, these bentos also work to mount fwd of the seatpost for extra storage, without having a full length top tube bag.
I came across these being used by a few Pros in gravel races a couple yeara ago and finally decided to try them. Happy that I did. No extras. Very simple. And they work.
