This bespoke bikepacking tent slots neatly between your handlebars for an easy ride

MSR’s two-person Hubba Hubba NX has been a favourite of the Trail magazine and Live For The Outdoors teams for many years (read our full MSR Hubba Hubba NX review here), thanks to its superb internal liveability, excellent headroom, two doors, two big porches and beautifully taut, vertically-walled structure. Everything that’s good about the Hubba Hubba NX is also present in the Hubba Hubba Bikepack 2.

This tent is a near-identical version, with a few bespoke upgrades for the bikepacking market. The main change is the pole length, when folded away. They are 14.5cm shorter in the bikepacking version, which means the poles fit compactly into a well-shaped handlebar bag.

This waterproof bag has special attachment points – “handlebar spacers” – which enable the bag to suspend below the handlebars, neatly out of the way of your hands. It’s a seamless method of on-bike stowage for your tent.

The negatives of the Hubba Hubba Bikepack tent? The high walls can “catch” the wind, inner-first pitching isn’t ideal, the mesh interior is quite cold and draughty, the flysheet doesn’t peg out flush to the ground, and the hydrostatic head ratings are a little disappointing, particularly considering the lofty price-tag of £600 ($764.89).

Is this the right tent for you? We absolutely love the Hubba Hubba Bikepack and believe you will too – but with a few provisos. We’re big fans of the dome-shaped design. It’s incredibly spacious and liveable, and there’s so much room for organising kit, moving around and sleeping comfortably.

It works really well for two bikepackers and also holds up competently in quite bad weather. But we’d probably not fancy it in absolutely atrocious conditions. In very heavy rain and strong winds, we’d prefer a lower-profile, more bombproof tent, which would inevitably detract from the liveability, but improve all-round weatherproof protection.

So, as with all outdoor kit, there are compromises and balances with the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack. But, overall, in our eyes it’s a great choice. If you’re looking for a super comfy, wonderfully spacious interior, alongside a clever solution to on-bike stowage, it ticks all of the boxes.

Bikepacking features and on-bike stowage

The hub-connected DAC poles of the regular Hubba Hubba NX fold down to a 45.5cm length, which is too big for storing the tent on a bike’s handlebars. The Hubba Hubba Bikepack version, however, has been re-designed to solve this issue. The poles segment and fold away more compactly to a length of just 31cm – a saving of 14.5cm.

This might not seem like much, but it makes a huge difference for the bikepacking adventurer. With the smaller pole length, the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack fits into a compact storage bag, sized 35x18cm by our measurements. The shape and size of this bag is fine-tuned to fit neatly underneath your bike’s handlebars – a convenient solution to the tent-carrying conundrum of bikepacking.

Furthermore MSR have meticulously designed a bespoke bikepacking tent carry bag. It is fully waterproof, with taped seams. It fits on any bike, whether it has flat or drop bars, and the bag has special “handlebar spacer” attachment points.

These enable the bag to “float” below the handlebars, neatly out of the way of your hands or any accessories such as a Garmin or mounted smartphone. You also get a reflective logo on the bag for improved road visibility, as well as loops onto which additional gear can be tied or clipped.

MSR also states the small packed size of the tent means it can easily fit in panniers, a frame bag or backpack. This is true, but we’d suggest it’s far better to go for the handlebar option – that’s really the best method for this tent.

The brand states the Hubba Hubba Bikepack is “made for those who live to adventure on two wheels”, with “cycle-specific touches” and a storage bag that is “barely noticeable on the handlebars”. There’s a bit of confident marketing spin in that statement, but mostly we’d agree.

Shape, structure, pitching and internal liveability

Pitching the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack is quick and easy. It’s an inner-first pitching technique – not exactly ideal for rainy Britain, but it’s not a major drawback – and this is how it works.

A main, hub-connected pole, which forks into a Y-shape at both ends and has a separate, central cross pole, forms the freestanding skeleton onto which the inner clips tightly. This nifty design forms near-vertical walls, a taut structure and excellent internal space, with first-rate head, shoulder and elbow room.

The floor is rectangular and non-tapered, which adds to the sense of spaciousness, and the overall dome-style shape delivers unrivalled comfort. The symmetry of the tent makes pitching easier too – there aren’t loads of confusing steps to the process.

The inner is pegged out using adjustable stake-out loops. Next the flysheet is thrown over the inner structure, and then clipped and pegged into place to complete the tent structure. The sides create two large, side-entry vestibules for storing your gear.

Each vestibule has a large StayDry door (shaped like a sideways ‘V’), which means you’ll never have to crawl over a sleeping companion at 2am to exit the tent. Each door has a built-in rain gutter and kickstand vent. The zippers on each door are innovative too.

There is no curve to the door shape, which means the zippers close to a single point, so you always know where to open the door, even in the dark. The zippers flow smoothly and are easy to use with one hand.

It’s also worth noting that – on clear nights – you can pitch the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack with the inner only for an open, airy structure. This is excellent for stargazing.

Waterproofing, wind resistance and breathability

Let’s first look at the official stats. The hydrostatic head waterproofing ratings of the 3-season MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack are as follows: the 20-denier ripstop nylon flysheet is 1,200mm rated while the 20-denier ripstop nylon bathtub-style groundsheet is also 1,200mm rated.

These are – for the UK’s rainy climate – rather disappointing stats, particularly for a high-end, expensive tent. This is often seen with American brands, which design tents with a drier, less humid environment in mind.

However, MSR’s tent boffins tell us waterproofing is about much more than just the hydrostatic head ratings. They argue that the polyether urethane and silicone coatings applied to the flysheet, and the polyether urethane and DWR (durable water resistant) treatments applied to the groundsheet, ensure high levels of waterproof protection. T

hey also state that MSR’s seam sealing process delivers first-rate performance; the tent’s materials have a tight, high tenacity and high-density thread count for added weather protection; and the steep, high walls shed rain excellently (unlike other tents with flatter roofs and gentler walls, onto which rain can pool).

It’s only anecdotal evidence, but during our tests on a Lake District campsite, the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack coped fine with light rain and didn’t let us down. Rain beaded and drained off the flysheet very well – although, of course, more time is needed to test the long-term durability of this tent.

If you need extra protection for the tent floor, the Hubba Hubba Bikepack is compatible with MSR’s universal two-person regular footprint (sold separately).

In terms of breathability, the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack performs excellently. The flysheet doesn’t peg out flush to the ground, which means there is an air-gap underneath for ventilation. On top of this, the interior has lots of breathable mesh and the flysheet has kickstand vents.

This approach has pros and cons. The good news is that you can combat condensation far better and, in hot weather, it’s far easier to cool down. The bad news is that, in violently wild weather, with horizontal rain, there’s a risk of water ingress below the flysheet, and the airy interior can feel cold and breezy.

The tall, dome-style shape of the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack is decent but not brilliant in strong winds. The high walls can “catch” the wind, a bit like a sail, and the design is lacking in terms of low-to-the-ground, aerodynamic protection. But, in our opinion, if you peg out correctly using all of the guylines, the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack is adequately stable and secure for most winds, except for the strongest of gusts.

Weight and packed size

On our scales the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack Two-Person weighs 1,677g, including the carry bag. This is broken down as follows: flysheet and inner (915g), hubbed poles (435g), eight pegs (75g), peg bag (7g), spare guylines (26g) and bikepacking carry bag including integrated pole bag (219g).

In our opinion, this is a mid-range weight – which is perhaps a tad disappointing considering the premium price (we always want things to be lighter!), but it’s not too bad either. There’s always a balance between weight and performance and comfort too, and considering the sheer amount of features and space you get with the Hubba Hubba, 838.5g per person is pretty darn good.

Overall we’d describe the weight performance of the Hubba Hubba Bikepack as decent, but not exceptional.  A weight of 1,677g (3.7lbs) is not exactly the lightest we’ve ever seen, but it’s not the heaviest either.

For comparison the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL2 Bikepack clocks in at just 1,191g – that’s what we’d class as genuinely ultralight. Yet the Hubba Hubba Bikepack offers a good weight saving compared to some of its competitors: it’s 478g lighter than the Sea to Summit Alto TR2 Bikepack, for example.

The MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack packs down to a size of 35x18cm, by our measurements. That is impressively compact and minimalist, and works well for on-bike stowage. No complaints from us in terms of packability.

Features and sustainability

You get some nice features with the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack. Internally you get a hanging wash line along the length of the tent’s roof – handy for drying out those wet cycling socks – as well as two oversized mesh storage pockets for gear organisation. The pockets are tech-friendly, with cable ports for easy cord management if you’re charging your phone while watching Netflix at night.

All-round durability appears impressive. MSR states it has worked on this, adding reinforced patches, stitching at guy points and locking anodised stake loop grommets for extra strength in the tent’s hardware.

In terms of sustainability, the DWR treatments do not use any harmful chemicals. But the tent does not feature any recycled materials and, therefore, the all-round eco credentials are ok, but far from exceptional.

A one-person version of this bikepacking tent is also available. The MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack One-Person version costs £560 ($713.90) and has an official weight of 1,270g.

Verdict

The MRS Hubba Hubba Bikepack II is a superbly spacious, mega-comfy tent for two bikepackers with a compact handlebar bag – but it’s expensive and others are better-equipped for truly wild weather.

See how it compares to our best backpacking and wild camping tents.

About the author

James Forrest writes regular features and route guides for Trail and has been one of our main gear testers for the last few years. James is based on the edge of the Lake District so when he isn’t off on his latest crazy adventure or challenge, he’s walking in his local fells.

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