Touring - Tents with bicycle garages?

I have been trying to find lots of different tents that have "bicycle garages". For example, I have the Nordish Tunnel GT 3. The MSR Velo is another option, as well as the Vaude Monolith. All these options have huge vestibules (2 meters long by 1 meter wide by 1.2 meters high) which can accomodate a bike or two.

Does anyone know of any other tents that fit the bill?

Lance

Why not just use a tarp for the bike. You could use a smaller tent, then. Less to haul around. Just a thought.

We once found clear plastic bike covers which we used on a tour. Worked fine for the couple nights with rain.

Mike

Here:
http://www.hilleberg.com/Catalog/tents_47616_products.htm
I have been wanting one for years...

Why do you want a "bicycle garage" attached to your tent? What's the goal? Security? I can see it for that (it would certainly discourage theft). Protection from rain/hail/sleet? It's going to get wet when riding during the day, why worry about it at night?

Also, the trouble with garages is that pretty soon you start storing other stuff in there and all of a sudden there's longer any room for your vehicle. :)

Why do you want a "bicycle garage" attached to your tent? What's the goal? Security? I can see it for that (it would certainly discourage theft). Protection from rain/hail/sleet? It's going to get wet when riding during the day, why worry about it at night?

I think security would be one of the most valuable traits of having space in your tent to store your bike overnight. Consider the guy who was touring Mongolia, and someone just tied his bike (which was locked to his tent pole) to their horse saddle and rode off with the bike and half the tent as well.
If it were to rain while riding during the day, your bike might have a chance to dry off at night if it were kept in the tent. Besides, the "garage" isn't so much attatched to the tent, it is an inner chamber of it.

I've been entertaining the thought of a Eureka Timberline XT. A two person tent with two doors, a good vestibule, & an optional annex on the back door to cover the bike & gear. I could always use a tarp for the annex fly & having it very close and accessable during storms & darkness is something I find valuable.
Besides, like drcrash says you'll end up putting other stuff in there too. Like my lawnmower, chainsaw, leafblower, and all my neighbor's stuff...................

Here:
http://www.hilleberg.com/Catalog/tents_47616_products.htm
I have been wanting one for years...

Thanks for the link! That site has some good secondary info too.

Not interested in tarps or bike bags, only interested in tents with vestibules large enough to act as bike garages. When the tent is closed, I don't want anyone to be able to see anything I own. =)

The Hilleberg ones are real nice, especiallly the Nallo 3 GT. Darn pricey though! I got my Nordisk Tunnel GT 3 for only 60 bucks.

The Hilleberg ones are real nice, especiallly the Nallo 3 GT. Darn pricey though! I got my Nordisk Tunnel GT 3 for only 60 bucks.

They are a bit pricey, I agree. One has to consider the qualtiy of their tents when factoring in cost, however, not just the design. Case in point: The Nallo 3 GT weighs in at 5 Lbs, 4 Oz due to the quality and strength of the fabric itself. I met an Austrian couple who toured from Vancouver, Canada to Tierra Del Fuego, Chile with one, and they said it performed perfectly the entire way. I was able to get in it and check it out for myself: adequate to hold two bikes, all panniers, and have an entire separate space for two to sleep in comfortably, with proper ventilation. I especially like Hilleberg for their low-profiles and green/grey color, which blends in multiple environments, in contrast to the gaudy brightly colored circus tents we Americans so unfortunately favor.
Also, for the weight-freak, their one-person ultralight weighs is at 3 Lbs 8 Oz (packed) and is probably the roomiest one-person I have ever seen. http://www.hilleberg.com/Catalog/akto_339322.htm

I would buy a Hilleberg and love it for years. I would consider it to be the ONLY tent for extra-long excursions (1 year +).

Topeak has come out with an interesting desing. I think they are still in the prototype phase. Your Bicycle acts as the structure of the Tent. Though it doesn't cover your bike completely it does offer some protection for it. Take a look at these interbike photos, http://gallery.phred.org/nGallery/albums/3/33.aspx

JOSH
-designer-
The CELLO Bike Case/Travel System for BOB Trailers
www.wandertec.com

If you go to the specials page of Hillebergs net site you'll see that you can get a 04' Nallo GT for only about $100 more than the MSR Velo.
Hilleberg Specials (http://www.hilleberg.com/Catalog/special_offers_86699_products.htm)

I see several advantages in the design and production of Hilleberg tents to justify their price. For one, each tent is made by one person and then pitched to check for flaws. You're going to pay more for that kind of care. They are also double walled exo-skeleton which is more expensive to design and produce.

It happens that I'm about to buy a new Hilleberg. As soon as I can decide on which. :o

There's one very interesting Hilleberg that I think would be great for bicycle touring. This is the Stalon Combi (new for '05). It's not on the website yet but is shown on page 38 and 39 of their catalog (that I got in the mail yesterday). The base Stalon tent looks very much like the Nammatj. However the Stalon is made of lighter material, has two small vestibules with the high vents and the real difference is the modular options. For $135 USD you can buy a vestibule extension that can be attached when needed and removed when not. One of the catalog photos shows the Base Stalon Combi 2 with an extension and sitting in the extension are two bikes and a person with room to spare! :D Other photos show two Stalons with an extension connecting them.

The best thing about Hillebergs exo-skeleton design and what has won me over is that the tents are very quickly pitched and since the inner tent can be left attached to the fly, you can erect the entire tent at once, entirely from the outside with the tent closed. This will come in quite handy in many occasions such as during rainfall.

Another thing is, once your Hilleberg arrives you can pitch it inside and if it's not what you expected, you can return it for a refund.

I figure I'll either be buying the Nallo 4 or the Stalon Combi 2 with extension or....


Ron
Utah...for now.
Jasper, Banff, Calgary & Edmonton this July

It happens that I'm about to buy a new Hilleberg. As soon as I can decide on which. :o

Thanks for the info, and congrats. I am jealous. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that Hillebergs are among the world's finest tents, and ever since I saw one in action, I have refused to buy another tent until I can afford one of theirs. Enjoy.

Thanks Tourbike,

It happens that I was on the Hilleberg site earlier and found that they have added Stalon Combi pages since yesterday.

So now it seems that all of the tent options are shown online. This one looks like it's an awesome touring tent, especially if two riders are sharing the extra weight the huge vestibule extension adds.

Check it out:

Here is the Stalon Combi 2 Base (http://www.hilleberg.com/Catalog/stalon_combi_2__base_version__339049.htm)

And here is the Stalon Combi 2 with Extensioin holding two bikes and more. (http://www.hilleberg.com/details/stace.htm)

A versatile tent.

Cheers,

Ron
Utah...for now.
Jasper, Banff, Calgary & Edmonton this July

I believe the Vango Spirit 200 has enough room in the vestibule for a bike although you may have to lay it down to fit it in.
I'm going to check it out as soon as my local outdoor equipment store gets them this spring. I'm considering getting one for the summer tour.

Magnus Thor
Iceland

If anyone ever tries that tying my bike to their horse-trick, they better have a fast horse and a gun, 'cuz I would be SUPER-pissed!

Give the folks atStephenson's (http://www.warmlite.com/tents_In.htm) a call. Although none of their standard tents have a large enough "garage", I bet they could and would set one up for you.

I have a couple observations-I wouldn't want my bike in my tent. Hauling the bike in&out nightly would damage the floor (as the OP I think is aware). The "garage" would have to be a large enough awning/vestibule that goes all the way to the ground (so that Mongolian couldn't see what's in there from the side).

A large silnylon tarp can be setup nicely this way, provided the tent front is tall enough-the tent/tarp attachment system could either be pinned/clipped together, or a more permanent system could be devised to weather a storm(zipper strips for example-if you know, or are good with an industrial sewing machine). I mention using a sylnylon tarp, only because they are extremely lightweight (yet durable)-I have an 8'x10' that is easily under a pound. The primary problem with altering sylnylon, is that it is extremely slippy, hence very difficult to work with.

Oh, and, that particular Mongolian new that the person was a cyclist. Even if the bike was inside-and he still wanted to steel it...who knows if things may have escalated (knife to tent wall, clubbed while sleeping...you get my drift). Anyways, he has a heck of a tale to tell his grandkids now (hey kiddies...did I ever tell you about that time I was pedlin' Mongolia??).

Camel,

Your "observations" :) don't seem to apply in the case of Hillebergs tents that can accommodate bikes. They do come all the way to the ground and since the "parking" area is an extended vestibule, there is no floor to damage. That said, the company does offer the option of fitted ground sheets which include the vestibule area. At less than $50 per footprint I wouldn’t worry about what the bike tires will do to it either and you can always carry something like a coaster to broaden the "footprint" of your kickstand. Something that's a good idea for other soft surfaces as well for a heavily loaded bike.

I can't speak for the quality of warmlites but at the price you pay I'd like to see more detailed info online since that's the only outlet for purchase, but that's me. I can't even remember seeing a photo of the inside of one of these or one without the fly/outer installed. I might be sounding like a Hilleberg salesman right about now but they even have the pitching directions with photos for all of their tents online. Looking at those helped me decide on which models I was interested in.

It happens that I don't plan to buy a tent that I can hide bikes in but I can see the advantage. In Hilleberg's case the additional vestibule material to cover two bikes is about at light as any tarp that you could fully conceal two bicycles with. And, once the tent is closed people would have little hint what was in there. In fact, the extended vestibules look like the rest of the tent so it just may appear as a tent holding more people rather than hiding expensive gear. On the other hand, a tarp covering an unknown object may beg for someone to come see what's under it. Anyway if banditos decide to find out what's inside a Keron GT, Nallo GT, Nammatj GT or Stalon Combi, the bikes will be the first thing they come to if they use the door :rolleyes:, so they wouldn't have to bother with the people since they're in another "compartment".

The real down side I see in some of these bike garage tents, aside from their weight, is their length. I already carry a tent big enough to protect the two of us, 7 of our 8 panniers and 2 handlebar bags. Adding the length required to also store our bikes would take a big tent like the Nammatj 3 GT, over 13 feet long not counting the guy-out points.

Anyway... to each their own. And, since the person that started this tread didn't want a tarp and didn't want to pay $500 for a tent, neither of us is helping him out that much. :p


Cheers,

Ron
Utah...for now.



Give the folks atStephenson's (http://www.warmlite.com/tents_In.htm) a call. Although none of their standard tents have a large enough "garage", I bet they could and would set one up for you.

I have a couple observations-I wouldn't want my bike in my tent. Hauling the bike in&out nightly would damage the floor (as the OP I think is aware). The "garage" would have to be a large enough awning/vestibule that goes all the way to the ground (so that Mongolian couldn't see what's in there from the side).

A large silnylon tarp can be setup nicely this way, provided the tent front is tall enough-the tent/tarp attachment system could either be pinned/clipped together, or a more permanent system could be devised to weather a storm(zipper strips for example-if you know, or are good with an industrial sewing machine). I mention using a sylnylon tarp, only because they are extremely lightweight (yet durable)-I have an 8'x10' that is easily under a pound. The primary problem with altering sylnylon, is that it is extremely slippy, hence very difficult to work with.

Oh, and, that particular Mongolian new that the person was a cyclist. Even if the bike was inside-and he still wanted to steel it...who knows if things may have escalated (knife to tent wall, clubbed while sleeping...you get my drift). Anyways, he has a heck of a tale to tell his grandkids now (hey kiddies...did I ever tell you about that time I was pedlin' Mongolia??).

Anyway... to each their own. And, since the person that started this tread didn't want a tarp and didn't want to pay $500 for a tent, neither of us is helping him out that much. :p Ron Utah...for now.

Thank you for actually noticing the reason the list was started in the first place. Amazing how many folks don't do that.

Lance

Thank you for actually noticing the reason the list was started in the first place. Amazing how many folks don't do that.

Lance

Too rite, sorry I missed your price point.

Too rite, sorry I missed your price point.

No worries. Please don't think I was criticising you or anyone for that matter. I appreciate all feedback.