Tents for Bike Touring
A tent is perhaps the most crucial piece of equipment that the independent bicycle tourist will carry.
It will be your home away from home, a haven from wind, rain and cold temperatures, a key to travelling on a budget and one of the few constants that appears every night as you go from place to place. Choose well and your tent will be your best friend. Pick poorly and it may be the cause of more than a few unprintable words!
There are many types of tents to select from – an overwhelming number in fact – but look for a few crucial features:
- As lightweight as possible – Tents made for car camping can be downright heavy! Try to get something that’s between 2-4kg, towards the lighter end if you’re going solo and a bit more if you’re travelling with a partner.
- Muted colours – A bright orange tent looks pretty in the shop but it’s hardly ideal when you’re trying to wild camp in the woods. Get something that will blend in with your surroundings. Even if you don’t intend to free camp, you never know when an unexpected rain storm or some other event will change those plans and being as invisible as possible will help ensure you don’t attract attention.
- Packed Size – Make sure it packs down small enough to fit in your panniers, trailer or across the back rack of your bike.
- Easy Set-up – If you intend to do any amount of camping, you can be sure there will be at least one day where you’re trying to set your tent up in the dark, in the middle of a gale-force wind or with hordes of mosquitoes attacking every inch of bare flesh. This is not the time to be fiddling with 20 poles and an incomprehensible series of hoops, loops and straps. Get the simplest set-up system possible.
Everything else when it comes to tents is really a matter of personal preference and your plans. For camping across the seasons, look seriously at a double-walled tent that will insulate against the cold. For warmer climes, something single-walled and well ventilated will keep you safe from bugs, while still allowing a nice breeze to flow through. Shorter trips probably mean you don’t need as much space, while on extended journeys you’re likely to value the extra room that buying a slightly larger tent brings.
A freestanding tent will let you set the tent up first and stake it out later. It also makes things easier on hard ground but we have found you can set up any tent without pegs by attaching the straps and strings that come with most tents to the rocks, trees and even picnic tables – whatever is in the area.
If you do go with a freestanding tent, don’t be tempted to leave the pegs at home. It might save weight but you never know when a storm will blow through and you need to fully secure your tent. Pegs also tend to bend or break at the most unfortunate times and it’s always best to have a few in reserve.
Here are a few tents that are tried, tested and loved by bike tourers:
Hilleberg Nallo GT
Our tent of choice comes from Swedish tent maker Hilleberg. We’ll warn you now, the 2.8kg Nallo 3GT is light in weight but heavy on your wallet. Expect to fork out about $600 for a 3-person model (the one we took on our world tour) but price brings quality and this tent, with its roomy vestibule and separated sleeping area, has never failed us. In 15+ hours of a downpour in New Zealand, we were perfectly dry. In strong winds, our tent gracefully flexed with the gusts, without ever breaking a pole. And, most importantly, we felt the durability of the Nallo GT (we slept over 400 nights in our first one and it was still functioning perfectly, if a little thin from UV damage when we replaced it) and the customer service from Hilleberg was top-notch. If you can afford it, you won’t regret this tent for serious expeditions. For solo tourers, Hilleberg also make the 1.5kg Akto.
MSR Hubba Hubba
For warm-weather trips, this freestanding tent could be an excellent choice for a solo tourer or two very good friends. The MSR Hubba Hubba has a frame that is based around the inner layer, which means you can leave the fly-sheet off most of the time for great ventilation and evening star gazing. At a mere 2kg, it’s hardly going to weigh you down either. On the downside, if you have to use the fly-sheet, its bright yellow colour works against you for wild camping and this tent might not be the best in heavy rains but for the modest price – less than half the cost of the Hilleberg – it’s excellent value.
Tarptent Contrail
This tent took top place for solo travellers in Backpacker Magazine’s 2009 buyer’s guide and it’s very hard to find a bad word about it on the web. It weighs in at just 700g, costs a modest $199 and gets almost universal rave reviews. What’s the catch? Some people say it’s prone to condensation and can let in quite a breeze – not a good thing at higher altitudes or in chilly weather. It may also feel a bit cramped if you have to stay in it for a long time in bad weather, but then for the money you’ve saved compared to other tents, you can probably afford a hotel.
Have some thoughts on tents, or maybe a question? Leave us a comment!
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[...] You’ll want to consider the weight, the colour, how easy it is to set up and how you’ll feel if you have to spend a day or two inside during foul weather – all things we talk about in our latest article, a guide to choosing a tent for your next trip by bicycle. [...]
One feature that I would add is the ability to set it up in a rainstorm without getting the inside of the tent wet! For this reason, we recommend a tent that you clip to poles rather than a tent with sleeves. We had a really nice Northface Kestral that we loved, but there was not practical way to set it up in bad weather. We enjoyed the spaceousness of our Mount Hardware Viperline, but it was actually a little too big, and definitely a little too reflective for trying to camp in a hidden location.
Becky, can you elaborate a bit? We had a tent with sleeves and didn’t have a problem with the inside getting wet when we set it up in rain. Do you mean a situation where there’s a rainfly that provides the roof but the roof can’t go on until you get the poles through the frame attached to the inner tent, like the MSR Hubba Hubba?
We have used the Vango TBS Spirit 200+ on several bike tours and really like it.
It is not free standing; however that was never a problem for us as we always had a pitch site that was easy to knock the pegs into the ground.
It has a very large vestibule that was excellent for storing our gear and then for spending time in when the weather turned foul.
It is sturdy.
The down sides include a low clearance of 105mm and the vestibule does not have a floor. To over come this we cut a footprint from a cheap blue tarp and then discarded it at the end of the tour.
Condensation on the inside of the vestibule was always a nuisance, however I have a feeling that this is common with many tents.
The Vango looks nice Kayleen, quite like a Hilleberg from the outside! Thanks for sharing with us.
Friedel, Andrew – hi guys, you might remember me, we met in Yazd. Interested in your comments on tents.
I’ve always used the Hlleberg Akto for solo bike touring and just bought the Nallo 2-man which I took tramping in New Zealand. I’m disappointed with the Nallo – condensation seems to be a big problem and the big span between the 2 poles means the outer fly often comes into contact with with inner when raining. This is despite trying to make it as taut as possible.
Am I missing something? Have you ever experienced that? Any tips for the Nallo?
Good luck with the ‘new life’ in Holland!
Jonathan
Hi Jonathan, yes, we definitely remember you! I’m sorry to hear you’re not having much luck with the Nallo. I’ve asked Andrew (officially the tent ‘mechanic’) and he says that when it was raining heavily, he sometimes popped out of the tent to re-tighten it, because the weight of the rain can cause the fabric to sag a bit. He always focused on tightening it by pulling at the straps near the pegs at the front and back of the tent and where the poles slot into their little cups. We didn’t really have any condensation problems, even during long rainy days in NZ. Have you tried contacting Hilleberg? We’ve found them very responsive and helpful.
Thanks Friedel. I’ll try that. Keep in touch and best wishes for the new year!
I have a tarptent rainbow and am very pleased with it. It’s not a tent for deep winter or heavy rain, but other than that super lightweight and sturdy.
I must try one of those tarptents one day. I have heard nothing but good things about them!
KAYLEEN – I am a big fan of Vango tents but then again I am biast as I had a spell working with Vango plus they are a Scottish company based in Glasgow and designed from scratch and extensively tested! Ah the downsides to the job eh?
The spirit 200+ is my tent of choice, also. Known as a tunnel tent I find it is big enough for me and my gear and still giving the room to manouver and still cook in the porch. I was using its bigger brother the Equinox for a short perios and could actually fit my bike in as well! Although I comprimised on the weight, and defaulted back.
Tent shopping is a nightmare! There are so many tents! each with their own merits but I have gone through so many tents over the years and I think the Spirit 200+ so far is a keeper.
Unfortunately the weather in the UK means that there is maybe one day of the year that we could get the use of a tarp tent. Thats where I enny you yanks!
CALLUM
Hi guys,
My wife, our two year old son and I are about to head off on a bike tour through Europe and beyond. Any suggestions for a tent that would be big and comfortable enough for the three of us, yet that packs up neatly? We’ve looked at the Hilleberg Nallo 3GT, but would love one that comes with two seperate sleeping compartments, if possible. Any ideas? Thanks a million!
Philip