Scicon Aeronaut Seatpack

Saddlebags, nice term. I’ve always enjoyed a good saddlebag and I recently received this one from Sci Con. If you are not familiar with Sci Con they are an Italian company who make some pretty good bike bags. Sci Con are pretty confident in their new saddle bag and are keen to get cyclists to test them out. I tested mine for just over a week in varied conditions, from smooth tarmac to gravel and cobbles.

When I received the bag in the post I wasn’t too happy. I picked up the envelope and thought, damn that’s heavy! Only to open the package and find a whacking brochure in there and the actual saddlebag was a little under 100 grams, light but, not the lightest. So I’m staring at it, looks like a massive exotic rubber egg and small. I’m thinking what can I get in it? A tube? What else? From the picture you can see I managed to stuff in enough to get me out of trouble. So it’s not that big but, that is it’s selling point. To be honest this little rubber egg didn’t initially get any thumbs up from me. Apart from the florescent yellow safety colour [comes in black too] nothing stood out.

The rubber outer shell is soft and pulls over the inner hard plastic shell, which holds it’s contents in a cradle. It’s pretty easy to put the cover on the wrong way but, there are two tabs that, are different shapes to help you out, if the inner case had the same markings it would help. I like the fact that it’s not going to seep water in like most fabric bags. Waterproofing is a major plus on the Sci Con bag but, a zip entry [on fabric bags] is a lot easier, than the two part shell, I can’t complain too much, as most of the time any saddle bag just sits there, doing nothing under the saddle.

I took the saddlebag and fitted it to my bike with a little uncertainty. First thing I noticed was the quickness in installing it. Took me less than a minute. No tools needed to fit the bracket and it’s hard to get wrong! The bracket/clamp is bloody good and Sci Con are onto a winner there. The bag itself clicks 90º into the bracket, as the bag is slightly egg shaped it can only be clicked in one way, so impossible to get it wrong. The bag sits nicely under the saddle and the profile and shape really start to make sense once fitted – smooth, sleek and out of the way.

Although the clamp was well made and easy to install I wasn’t sure if the bag was going to hold in place. You have to make sure the bag snaps into position, you know this when it gives a nice audible click. I looked at it, wondered if it was going to be secure, weird why I felt insecure about it? I took my bike and the saddlebag over varied terrain, hopped about and tried everything to jettison the bag but, I couldn’t shift it. After two rides I was very happy with it, that it had gone nowhere it wasn’t supposed to and made no noise. No annoying rattles, no rubbing me or the bike, just silently sitting there waiting to be used.

Verdict

Great saddle bag, a departure from the standard saddlebag but, looks right on the bike somehow. It’s profile is good, just wish it was a fraction bigger to better allow a multi tool and a few other small items. Would I recommend this bag? Yes, and to anyone who wants to be fast and not clutter up a road bike this is a very good choice.