The Best Tents for Bikepacking and Cycling Tours: Your Home on the Road

Tents are the ultimate in terms of sleeping solutions while camping. The right tent means you’ll always have your home with you, even on a bikepacking tour or cycling trip. Tents are the optimal choice for weather protection against rain, storms or sand, offering privacy, mosquito netting and a lot of comfort while resting with little weight or a small pack size. Our buying guide shows you what to look for when shopping.

What are the construction principles of tents?

There are three basic construction principles for tents with certain advantages and disadvantages. There are also hybrid tents. However, not all tent designs are suitable for bikepacking. Even so, we’re going to go over everything for the sake of completion. Almost all tents have one thing in common: they are double-walled. The outer tent is waterproof and protects against rain, wind and snow. Underneath is an inner tent made of thin, breathable mesh fabric that protects you from mosquitoes and insects. The double-wall construction ensures, among other things, that moisture in the tent such as air, perspiration, ambient or ground moisture (e.g. if you are camping close to a body of water) only condenses on the outer tent and your inner tent stays nice and dry.

In addition to the actual living space, many tents also have an anteroom for luggage, the so-called vestibule. A vestibule does not have an inner tent and is ideal for things that need to be kept waterproof and safe overnight, but which you do not want to bring into the inner tent, such as bike shoes.

• Dome Tent, the Classic: in a dome tent, at least two pole arches cross over the tent floor to form a dome. Dome tents usually require a relatively small pitch and are self-supporting or even free-standing due to their construction. This means you need fewer pegs / anchor points to set it up stably, or in extreme cases you can do without them altogether. This is helpful, for example, when you can’t hammer pegs into hard ground. Due to their almost symmetrical shape, dome tents are more or less identical in terms of multi-directional wind stability. By the way, we recommend that you always unpeg the tent in windy conditions. On hot summer days, you can do without the outer tent cover on many dome tents and just pitch the inner tent as an airy (but no longer waterproof or opaque) shelter. Otherwise, you have to first pitch the inner tent and then throw the outer tent over it and fix it in place. Dome tents usually also stand out due to their large maximum interior height.
• Tunnel Tent, the Scandinavian Standby: In the "Friluftsliv paradise" of Scandinavia, tunnel tents are very popular. For this design, the tent poles are parallel to each other and do not cross. Tunnel designs are particularly advantageous in miserable (Scandinavian) weather because the inner tent can remain permanently attached to the outer tent and pitching is very quick and easy. Wind is not an issue, and the inside remains dry. When it comes to a weight-to-space ratio, tunnel tents often have the advantage. They are also very stable in windy conditions, but you should always place them with the front side facing into the wind during storms. However, tunnel tents require a larger amount of space than dome tents and are generally not free-standing.
• Hybrid, the Clever Solution: Combined forms of dome and tunnel tents are also called hybrids. One example is the "Tripod" layout from outdoor specialist VAUDE, where the two poles do not cross in the middle of the tent and which is used, for example, in the extremely lightweight Taurus SUL. A freestanding tent where the inner tent can remain attached – clever.
• Geodesics, for Extreme Use: Mentioned only for the sake of inclusion, geodesic tents play no role in bikepacking. They are a derivative of the dome tent, but here at least three poles cross at several points, which ensures extremely high stability in stormy weather and makes the tent able to withstand heavy snow. Basically, geodesic tents are used mainly for expeditions or extreme winter tours. As long as you don't want to compete in the Iditarod Trail Invitational with a fat bike, you shouldn’t consider cumbersome geodesic tents for bikepacking.

Do you need a one-, two- or three-person tent?

The size of a tent is usually indicated by an estimate of how many people it can accommodate. In most cases, you can choose from a one-, two- or three-person tent. The interior length, width and height are of course more precise and can be found in the product descriptions. In addition to your body measurements, you can also use the length and width of your camping mat and sleeping bag as a guide.

A one-person tent offers flexibility on solo tours and saves you the trouble of hauling excess luggage. As a compromise, you can use a tent that offers (limited) space for two people in extreme cases and serves as a comfortable one-person tent when you’re traveling alone. For bikepacking, tents for up to two people have become popular because of their compact pack size. Larger tents are an advantage in worst-case scenarios, such as if you have to ride out bouts of harsh weather over multiple days. In addition, you can divide its parts among multiple people. For example, one person would then carry the poles in a frame bag and a second would carry the inner and outer tents in a handlebar roll. Otherwise, larger three- or multi-person tents are usually too big for bikepacking. Smaller tents also offer you more peace and privacy after an arduous day in the saddle.

Tip: Your tent should always be long enough so that your sleeping bag does not press the inner tent against the outer tent and get wet from the condensation that collects there. That can cost you heat. Read more in our buying guide for sleeping bags.

Handling and care of your bikepacking tent

With proper care, high-quality tents are dependable companions for many years. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind on the road and at home.

On the road:

• It is best to find a place with level ground and make sure to remove foreign objects such as sharp stones before pitching the tent.
• Try to make sure the tent is packed as dry as possible. Water can be shaken off easily from siliconised nylon in particular. Make sure that the inner tent does not get wet while you're packing it.
• When dismantling the tent, push the poles out of the channels instead of pulling on them. Otherwise you will pull the segments apart, which can lead to time-consuming complications. Speaking of poles: Even the best pole can break under load or if handled incorrectly. This is why you should always keep a repair sleeve and some duct tape on hand.
• When packing, make sure that sharp or hard objects such as poles or pegs do not damage the tent.

At home:

• Dismantle the inner and outer tent and dry both parts thoroughly.
• It is best to remove dirt such as sand, pine needles or small stones from the inner tent before drying.
• If the outer tent is dirty, clean it carefully with lukewarm water and a soft brush. Special tent detergents can remove stubborn dirt.
• When the tent is clean and dry, you can store it in its original carrying bag. Make sure it is dry and protected from light.