Family tent for you and the bike?
 

Just curious really, I was having a look on ebay at prices for light tents when I stumbled across some nice tunnel family tents, room to stand up in, and a closed porch big enough to put your bike in and cook food. Has anyone as yet decided to go down this route and camp in style and with room to spare? Imagine it would be nice if you stayed at a place for more than a day? Question aimed for the biking community naturally!

I wondered about this too, would be good if you needed to do bike maintenance on the road in the pouring rain too. But, are they not like really massive when rolled up?? :eek3:

These kind off tents are really for car camping they are heavy and take up alot of space. To make the most of them you would also need to carry lots of other gear.

If you are travelling with a back up vehicle then they are ideal or if you like carrying a heavy loaded bike.

If you want a rain/sun shelter why not take a lightweight tarp this can be positioned so you can do bike maintenace, eat under cover etc.

I've got an EasyCamp Messina 400 that, like stu said, isn't intended to go on the back of a bike. It's just a budget family tent with fibreglass poles and not at all suitable for any kind of serious use.

Easy Camp Tents – Value for Money

However, me and a mate are off to Assen to watch the Moto GP next week so rather than take 2 small tents, we're taking the Messina. This will be the first time I've used it on a bike trip but it easily fits in my roll bag along with sleeping back, roll mat, stove, etc, so why not.

It's big enough to put both our bikes in (inner tent pushed back) while we go to watch the racing. If you've been to this area of Holland, you'll understand why we want our bikes out of sight.

I wouldn't take such a big tent if travelling alone as they're a proper carry on to put up by yourself in the rain/wind. Go for the tarp and a bike cover instead.

LOL, nice to know there are other crazy people out there! It was a mad thought, especially with extra weight and size but seemed like it could make camping a lot more comfortable!

I'll let you know how we get on.

I'm thinking about one of these for my next trip.

Robens Tents – Extreme Value for Specialists

Took a Vango Banshee on my last one and it's just about acceptable but maybe a little cramped with not much in the way of storage area, so I can see where you're coming from with the idea of a bigger tent.