Our tried and tested picks: The best bikepacking tents for two-wheeled adventures

The best bikepacking tents really are those designed specifically for being transported by bike. Because bikepacking involves carrying the gear you need for wild camping, that gear needs to attach to your handlebars or stash in frame-mounted bags.

Bikepacking tents, therefore, have features like shortened poles compared to their regular wild camping counterparts.

Other than your bike, the most important item of kit for bikepacking is your tent. A high-quality bikepacking tent will be lightweight, comfortable and reliably weatherproof – and, as mentioned, stow neatly on your bike handlebars or in your frame-mounted bags.

Here are the best bikepacking tents we have tested for 2025, whether you’re off on a weekend adventure in the Scottish Highlands or planning a three-month cycle tour through Europe.

Best bikepacking tents at a glance:

Best in test: Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL1 Bikepack Solution Dye

Best value: Forclaz Trekking Dome Tent MT900

Best weatherproofing: Wild Country Norte Compact 1

Best for liveability: MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack Two-Person Tent

Best for design: Nemo Dragonfly Bikepack Osmo

The benefits of bikepacking are plentiful. Sleeping under the stars is a magical experience; it’s the cheapest way to travel; self-sufficiency makes more remote (and epic) routes possible; and there’s a wonderful sense of freedom and flexibility.

When bikepacking, you don’t need a strict itinerary or a big budget for Airbnbs – instead, at no cost, you can simply pitch up next to the road whenever your legs are tired from all of the pedalling.

The cons? There are some. The weight of the kit you need to carry – tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat and camping stove – will weigh down your bike, making every mile that little bit tougher. Plus, when the weather is bad, sleeping in a damp, wind-battered tent can be utterly miserable.

But the good news is that, for most enthusiasts, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. Bikepacking is all about detoxing from our tech-centric world, pedalling towards the unknown horizon of a mesmerising landscape, and letting the freedom and escapism wash over you.

How we tested

At LFTO, we always test products out in rugged landscapes, ensuring we've put them through their paces in real life conditions.

For this bikepacking tent group test, our freelance nomad James Forrest camped in a Lake District campsite in a variety of weather conditions in October and November.

During these tests, he carefully analysed each tent’s performance across key metrics including on-bike storage, weight, ease of pitching, waterproofing, wind resistance, vulnerability to condensation, internal liveability, price and features.

Best bikepacking tents 2025

Bikepacking tents: Buying guide

Buying a bikepacking tent is not too dissimilar from buying a traditional backpacking tent. In both scenarios you’ll need to think about the tent’s design, shape, weight and weatherproofing stats.

A good place to start, therefore, is our deep dive article on how to choose a backpacking tent. For your convenience, we’ve summarised this information below in a more digestible format – and added in specific features to look out for bikepacking tents.

How does a bikepacking tent differ from a normal backpacking tent?

A specialist bikepacking tent is simply a bike-friendly version of a backpacking tent, usually with a compact size and storage bag designed specifically for on-bike stowage.

Generally speaking, bikepacking and backpacking tents are very similar, often with identical materials, dimensions and designs. But there are a few key differences, as follows:

Pole length (when folded down):

One of the problems with a traditional backpacking tent for bikepacking is that the tent pole, when folded down, is too long for convenient storage on a bike frame.

Consequently specialist bikepacking tents are often designed with shorter individual sections to each pole, thus enabling the tent to pack away more compactly and ensuring easier on-bike stowage.

For example, the regular MSR Hubba Hubba tent has a folded tent pole length of 45.5cm, whereas the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack version is only 31cm long. The latter will sync with a bike frame far more easily.

Compact storage:

A key consideration for bikepackers is how to attach a tent to your bike. Some ‘normal’ backpacking tents, despite being lightweight, don’t pack down in a convenient size or shape for on-bike stowage. They might be too chunky, or long, or bulbous.

Conversely specialist bikepacking tents are purposefully shaped to sync with handlebars, or stow easily in panniers, or affix to fork racks.

The Sea to Summit Alto TR2 Bikepack, for example, has a clever bike-specific storage system: the tent packs into two 420-denier waterproof and durable eVent dry sacks with stretch-loc straps for reliable mounting in a variety of orientations.

Bike-specific features:

Some bikepacking tents have a few extra design touches specifically for cyclists. For example, the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL1 Bikepack Solution Dye tent has a specific webbing loop for bike helmet storage.

Should I buy a specialist bikepacking tent or a ‘normal’ backpacking tent?

The benefit of buying a specialist bikepacking tent is that you’ll know for certain its pack-away shape and all-round features will have been tailored to cyclists. It’s a safe bet, in other words.

The drawback is that there aren’t that many specialist bikepacking tents on the market, thus limiting your choices. Specialist bikepacking tents also tend to be on the expensive end of the price spectrum, so if you’re looking for a bargain, you’ll really struggle to find anything.

Consequently buying a ‘normal’ backpacking tent – one designed for hikers, climbers and wild campers – is a perfectly acceptable choice most bikepackers. Indeed, such an approach will give you far more choice in terms of brands, tent designs and price.

The only word of warning is that you’ll need to check carefully that the backpacking tent, once packed away in its storage bag, can be stored securely on your bike frame or within your panniers without any issues.

Of course, if you have a set-up with lots of specialist bikepacking frame bags (saddle packs, top tube packs, fork packs, handlebar packs, stem bags and cockpit bags), or more traditional panniers, you hopefully might have a storage bag sized perfectly to accommodate your tent.

What are bikepacking bags?

Bikepacking bags are specialist bags attached to the frame of your bike. The old school, classic bikepacking bag is the pannier, but it is mostly out of fashion now, considered too clunky and heavy for the demands of long-distance touring.

Modern bikepacking bags are ultralight, space efficient and designed to add convenient storage to all areas of your bike.

The main types are as follows: handlebar bags (attached, obviously, to the handlebars), frame packs (wedged in the triangle between the top, down and seat tubes), cockpit bags (attached behind the handlebars for easy access) and saddle bags (attached behind and below the saddle). In theory, you may be able to stash your tent in one (or more) of these bags.

The outer, inner and pegs will usually be quite easy to store; the poles are usually the hardest thing to find space for, particularly if they are quite long.

On top of frame-mounted bags, some bikepackers choose to cycle while wearing a backpack. This is often a personal preference – some cyclists don’t mind doing so, others hate it. But if you do carry a backpack, it’ll significantly add volume and versatility to your storage options.

How do you carry a bikepacking tent?

The most common way to carry a bikepacking tent is to attach it to your handlebars. This is because the cylindrical, long and narrow shape of a packed-away tent tends to sync well with the shape of bicycle handlebars.

Some specialist bikepacking tents, such as the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack, have storage bags that are designed to attach seamlessly to flat or drop handlebars, almost ‘floating’ in front of the handlebars via straps. Alternatively you may need to buy a standard handlebar bikepacking bag, and then stuff your tent inside it.

If you don’t want to store your tent on the handlebars, there are two other options. The first is to cycle wearing a daypack and store your tent inside it – but many bikepackers like to avoid this approach.

The second option is to split your tent up and simply stash its various components here, there and everywhere in your frame bags, wherever you can find space, and wherever works well.

So, for example, you might be able to stuff the flysheet, inner and pegs in the saddle bags, and then slide the poles in your frame pack below the top tube. There is no right or wrong answer really, and a little creativity can go a long way when it comes to bikepacking set-ups.

Bikepacking tents: Key features

Waterproofing

For an indication of how waterproof a tent really is, check the hydrostatic head of the flysheet and groundsheet. A good baseline is 3,000mm. However many other factors, including silicone or PU coatings, the tent’s shape, sealed seams and the tightness of a fabric’s weave, affect waterproofing.

Wind resistance

A good bikepacking tent will allow wind to flow over it smoothly, without buffeting and flapping like crazy.

Tents with a low-to-the-ground, aerodynamic profile will ‘shed’ wind better than tents with higher, more vertical walls. Either way, pegging out guylines will increase stability in high winds.

Comfort

The most comfortable tents have roomy interiors with vertical walls and ample head and shoulder room, enabling you to sit up and move around without touching the inner. Lower profile tents will have aggressively tapered walls, which can feel cramped and claustrophobic.

Weight

If you’re cycling long distance with a tent up strapped to your bike, you’ll want it to weigh as little as possible – but the lighter it is, the more expensive it’ll be. For a good quality, three-season tent for UK use, 1kg or under is extremely light, 1.5kg is good and 2kg is a tad on the heavy side.

Pitching

Some tents, particularly from US brands, are pitched inner first – which isn’t ideal if it’s raining (and let’s face it, it probably will be!). Others are pitched outer first or all-as-one, enabling the inner to be kept dry while the flysheet is pegged out. Ease of pitching is another important consideration.

Flysheet

For maximum weatherproofing, a tent’s flysheet – the waterproof outer – should peg out flush to the ground, and be easily adjustable via tension straps so that it’s taut, stable and well-shaped. Some flysheets don’t quite reach the ground, which aids ventilation but risks water ingress.

Groundsheet

The groundsheet – the bottom of a tent’s inner and the bit you lie on – needs to be strong, durable and waterproof because it’s constantly in contact with the ground. ‘Bathtub’ groundsheets have waterproof material stretching a few inches up the walls, creating a ‘tub’ of protection around you.

Ventilation

Condensation can be difficult to avoid in the UK’s wet climate, so good ventilation is key. Mesh vents on the inner and vent windows on the flysheet will help increase airflow, as will mesh panels on the inner’s walls. Good clearance between the inner and outer is very important too.

Features

Other important features include: a good-sized porch for stashing your backpack and wet cycling shoes, a wide door for easy entry and exit, sufficient length and width for lying down (check carefully if you’re 6ft+), a stormflap over the main zipper, internal pockets for gear organisation, an easy-to-fill carry bag, strong poles, good pegs, sturdy pegging out loops and robust guylines.

About the author

James has been testing tents and other outdoor gear for years. He cut his bikepacking teeth back in the 2000s on a 200-mile round trip from his home in Birmingham to Lake Vrynwy in Wales - a random, on-a-whim weekend adventure.

Since then he has bikepacked the 137-mile Coast to Coast from Whitehaven to Sunderland and mountain biked to various remote bothies in Scotland during his 2019 mission to climb all 282 Munros.

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