Hubba Hubba Bikepack 1 Tent Review

Brought to you by:

For many years one tent has reigned supreme in the world of lightweight camping. Whether you are embarking on a thru-hike on the longest trails in the world or simply exploring your home hills on an overnight hike one tent will undoubtedly be recommended to you more than any other. The Hubba range of tents, from M.S.R., is widely accepted to be the best range of lightweight tents on the market. They strike the perfect balance between usability, weight, functionality and durability making them the perfect investment for an outdoor enthusiast. Now this famous tent has a cousin, the Hubba Bikepack, and we cannot wait to share our thoughts on it.

We picked up ours from Great Outdoors in Dublin. Great Outdoors is the best shop in Ireland for high-quality outdoor gear. Their team of expert staff will always equip you with exactly what you need to make the most out of your next adventure, big or small.

Specifications

Designed with adventurous cyclists in mind, the new Hubba Hubba Bikepack 1-person tent combines practical features with spacious performance. This makes it a top choice for all types of two-wheeled adventures.

This tent boasts a true rectangular floor, which eliminates sleeping pad overlap and ensures there is enough space for gear. The spacious height of 0.97 m gives ample headroom for comfortable seating and getting changed.
The blend of mesh and solid fabric on the tent’s inner offers airflow, privacy, and weather protection.
Its intuitive design includes a no-curve door with one-handed zippers. Tech-friendly pockets with cable ports. An interior clothesline for drying gear.
The exterior features strong, lightweight DAC poles that fit perfectly on all bike handlebars. A waterproof coating, and a large vestibule for additional storage.
The meticulously designed handlebar bag is waterproof and has reflective logos for visibility. It can also be packed into small spaces like a pannier or backpack.
With a minimum weight of 0.9 kg (2 lbs. 1 oz), the Hubba Hubba Bikepack tent is lightweight yet durable, offering easy setup and excellent on-bike stability, making it your perfect home while on, or off, the road!

What’s New

The new waterproof handlebar bag

This is a welcome improvement to the original stuff-sack. The confidence-inspiring ripstop nylon gives the bag added protection from being cut on briars or fences. The bag also has integrated straps on it which allows you to strap additional kit on the bag for easy carrying on or off the bike. The stuff sack is also oversized which not only makes packing the tent away very easy, it also means you can fit extra kit in the bag. We were able to fit our sleeping bag in the stuff sack with the tent. We also were able to attach our sleeping mat to the outside without inhibiting the handling of the bike at all.

Increased vestibule storage

The increased vestibule storage is amazing. There is enough space to fit the majority of your bike underneath to protect the main components from any less-than-favourable weather. We found that the best configuration for this was to have the handlebars and saddle facing us in the tent. However, this is a welcome improvement whether you intend on using the tent for bike packing or not. The increased vestibule size means that the tent now comfortably would fit a full expedition-size backpack, up to 80L, and whatever other personal items you don’t want to have inside the sleeping compartment of the tent.

Increased internal storage and functionality

There are multiple new internal mesh pockets in the tent now as well. There are mesh pockets on the ceiling of the inner as well as at the base of the inner. This additional internal storage means that it is very easy to stay organised in the tent. This is especially important for multi-day bike packing trips.

There is also an internal clothes line on the ceiling of the inner. Which is an effective way of airing out, and even drying out your gear. This is a feature that many people have created in their tents but given that it is purpose-built in this tent it functions impeccably. There is even a spare clothes line provided for external use with the tent.

Simplified internal door zips

There is one minor change to the zips on the inner of the tent. Instead of one oval zip door, the door is now comprised of two separate zips that operate separately. This saves weight, but it also means that you will always know where the zips are on the door. In minor improvement that makes a huge difference in practice.

Testing the Hubba Bikepack

The very first time we used the tent was on a two-day bike packing trip along a section of the Wild Atlantic Way in Co Mayo.

I took the train to Westport from Dublin and cycled to Clifden where I stayed at Clifden Eco Beach Camping. This was a 90 km cycle. I was struck immediately by how well the handlebar-mounted stuff sack worked. As mentioned previously I used the additional space in the stuff sack to store a few extra items and handling was not impaired in any way.

When we arrived at the campsite the tent was extremely straightforward setup, it took me four minutes 32 seconds to pitch the tent solo on my first time using it. I was struck mostly by the incredibly low weight of the tent yet how good the build quality was.

Overnight it rained consistently and was quite windy (43kph) but I woke up dry in the morning, and even though I did not use the guy ropes the tent stayed planted in the wind.

Once the tent dried slightly the next morning I packed it away. Packing it was very straightforward thanks to the oversized stuff sack.

Ultimate Bikepacking Guide for Ireland

Our Thoughts on the Hubba Bikepack

While this new version of the Hubba is branded as the bikepacking brother to the original we think it is more than that.

It has bike-specific features; such as the new and improved stuff sack. However, the Hubba Bikepack would be a perfect tent for all the same adventures the original Hubba NX thrived on.

The new and improved handlebar bag is excellent for bikepacking adventures. It makes the tent very easy to transport on your handlebars. However, the enhanced durable fabric and shorter poles are welcome improvements, whether you are mounting the tent to a bike or not. It makes the tent easier to pack, or strap to the outside of your pack without worrying about it getting cut on briars.

The increased vestibule storage is also a welcome improvement that makes the tent even better for longer adventures like thru-hikes. The increased vestibule storage now comfortably fits an expedition-size (up to 80 L) backpack while still having space for wet boots, dirty cookware or whatever else you don’t want in your tent.

The storage mesh pockets inside the tent and the included clothesline are also ingenious features no matter what adventure you bring the tent on!