We’re happy to leave a lot of things behind when we go bike touring but a good night’s sleep isn’t one of them.

That’s why we never skimp on sleeping mats. We always look for a reliable brand (the last thing you want is a failing sleeping mat in the middle of nowhere) and a mat that’s a bit warmer than we expect to need.

In our search for the perfect night’s sleep, we’ve relied on Thermarest’s inflatable Prolite Plus mat and, most recently, the super-durable Z Lite.

We wore out our Prolite mats long ago. The Z Lites are still going strong but they’re bulky and don’t provide much insulation. For our bike tour of Spain, we were bracing for below-freezing temperatures. We also needed a mat that rolled into a compact size (we were traveling by plane and had limited luggage space).

So, we asked Exped if we could try and review their sleeping mats. We agreed to buy the mats if we liked them. A few days later, one DownMat 7 (filled with goose down) and one SynMat 7 (with a synthetic filling) arrived on our doorstep.

Continue Reading: Exped SynMat & DownMat Review