I’ve been in love with MSR tents for a long, long time. I have multiple saved searches set up on TradeMe to notify me when someone is selling and back when I used to work part-time at Mainly Tramping, it was always a dream to own one. Mind you, Emma and I owned an equally rad tent in the way of a Lightwedge 2 from Mountain Hardware that’s served us well for the last 18 years, but she ain’t that small or that light.
So when MSR announced two bike packing additions to their Hubba Hubba line of tents, I just knew it was time to add something new to our quiver. The big change from a standard backpacking Hubba Hubba to the two Bikepack models is that the pole sections are much shorter, the packed tent fits comfortably between most drop bars. As you can see from the above two images, it fits with room to spare on the bars on Elliot’s Kona Rove. They are a generic gravel handlebars from four years ago and are not exactly wide or flared by modern standards.
Other big changes from the standard Hubba Hubba are the increased height of the tent and the addition of multiple clotheslines in the tent ceiling. They are there to hang gloves, helmets, and damp gear. There are also a bunch of internal mesh pockets that have holes in the corners so you can run device cables easily to portable chargers.
The MSR Tent bag is also totally redesigned. The fully waterproof and seam-sealed bag has a separate compartment for poles that is attached to the underside of the main tent bag. The roll-top bag can easily accommodate the tent and a footprint with ample room to spare for any additional items you may want to add. Mounting to your bars is a breeze, the bag comes with spacers and well-thought-out straps for secure positioning on both flat and drop bars, the spacers get the bag out far enough so as not to cause issues with MTB levers too. It’s also worth mentioning that the spacers are removable, so if you’re using this tent hiking they won’t take up valuable space. Also, the 2-person and 1-person tents are so small that they would fit in any other bags you may have on your bike, I squashed the Bikepack 1 into my Apiruda saddle bag, but you could fit it in a full-sized frame bag too. If you were riding with someone, and split the fly, tent, and poles you wouldn’t even know it was there!
I’ve had the tent out on two adventures, one bike packing, and one hiking trip, and I can say that so far it’s pretty darn hard to find faults. But like most US tents it could come with a couple more pegs. Given the wind we get in NZ and specifically Wellington, using all the guy ropes is normally required, and if you have pegged out the floor, well there aren’t quite enough. There are enough guy ropes included so it’s only a minor gripe. But the benefits of this tent far outweigh having to buy a couple of after-market pegs.
The size and weight of the packed bag and just how secure it fastens make for a trouble-free and smooth ride, with that said I have changed out the provided stem bungy cord for an old orange Roam bike bungy cord, its thicker, less stretchy and the clasp is bulletproof. Admittedly I haven’t MTB’d on singletrack yet but on some pretty rugged double track, you barely notice it’s there, the tent stays put and doesn’t thrash about at all.
Given the increased height of the tent, the vestibules on both models are a little larger than on a standard Hubba Hubba, meaning there is plenty of room for gear like bags, packs, bike shoes, and boots.
And I did say I’ve taken it on two trips… The second trip was a recent overnight field test for the Wellington branch of LandSAR. The tent and it’s poles are so compact and short that I could put the tent in my backpack across it widthways, it’s just crazy how small it is, did I say that already? We started the walk/exercise at 5 pm and arrived at camp at 3 am in the morning. Putting it up with minimal sleep and under the light of a head torch was easy and very quick. The little MSR vent at the top of the vestibule door meant that no condensation formed overnight and I had a toasty warm sleep.
Two nights in a tent is nowhere near enough time to gauge how good a tent is, but after its first two outings, I’ve been very impressed with the MSR Hubba Hubba Bikepack 1. I’m now looking forward to using it on a couple of North American adventures in July and then giving it a proper thrashing during the remainder of the NZ winter.
