Vango Tornado 200 Tent Review

My previous tent was a Vango Banshee 200 and to be honest it is hard to fault the tent.

I have camped out in some wild conditions with gale force wind and rain and on Dartmoor with double negative figures and it has performed exceptionally well.

The only draw back to the Banshee is the lack of storage space.

I would drag panniers and kit into the tent which made it a little cramped at times and it was also a problem when one had wet kit to think about!

So the hunt was on for a tent of a similar size, but with a vestibule/storage area.

I also wanted to be able to cook if necessary within the vestibule/storage area, I managed to get away with cooking in the Banshee, by placing a walking stick underneath the flysheet door and pegging it down with a bungee.

It did the trick, but not always easy to do when it was lashing it down with rain.

So the Vango Tornado seemed to tick all the boxes.

It is slightly taller, which makes getting dressed and moving around considerably easier, and I haven't checked the actual dimensions but it certainly felt bigger once inside.

One thing I really did notice was that it was a lot easier to get in and out of.

You can clearly see how much space there is at the front of the tent. Also having two doors is a big advantage.

The Tempest weighs in around 3kg the Banshee is around 2kg, but 1kg is a small price to pay for all that extra space and head room.

It straps onto my handlebar bag perfectly so not an issue for me to carry.

As I said in a previous post, being dark green in colour it is ideal for going full on into stealth mode. You would have a hard time spotting the tent if you did not know it was there!

So yes, very happy with the tent, easy to put up and take down as the inner remains attached so no messing around especially if it is raining!

Just 3 poles to contend with, two long poles which cross over each other and a V shaped pole which supports the vestibule/storage area.

Obviously the weather was perfect this time, I will have to see how it stands up to high wind, lashing rain and minus temperatures. It has a hard act to follow as the Banshee performed excellently in all of those conditions.

But for now, it is perfect for what I want it to do.

Till next time......ride safe.

Campsite - Rushcroft Farm Sway New Forest - Fat Biking

I live about 5 miles roughly from the campsite, and as this was the 1st time with a fully loaded up fat bike, this was a good distance to try out the loading of the bike.

I must say that it all went well, with no obvious problems to report.

Once at the campsite, my name was posted on a board by the entrance showing my pitch.

This was down in the back packers field.

I made my way through the site, with hard standing pitches and a large grass field to my field.

Everything was well laid out and with loads of space between pitches which is always a good sign.

I was tucked right up in the corner of the field, not that I had to worry as I was the only one here! On the 2nd night I had a Belgian couple turn up on touring bikes. They were travelling between Portsmouth and Plymouth.

It didn't take long to get the tent set up, which I will write about in another post, but it is a new tent. My Vango Banshee 200 was a great tent, but I was limited to space and I really wanted an awning to store panniers and to be able to cook in if the weather took a turn for the worse.

So I managed to find a Vango Tornado 200. Still a 2 man tent, but with masses of storage space at the front.

Still using Army mess tins, (old habits die hard)! In my opinion you cannot beat them.

You can clearly see here how much space is at the front - this is such a benefit when camping.

Being dark green in colour the tent blends into the scenery so ideal if you wanted to go into full on stealth mode.

The tent worked a treat, although I have yet to test it in high winds or heavy rain.

So this was my base for 2 nights. 

The site had showers and toilets in the next field which were free.

If you want a party site where you can sing and dance till the early hours this place is not for you, but if you want peace and quiet get yourselves booked in.

By 2130hrs the only thing you could hear was the slight breeze in the trees!

I would highly recommend this site - There is a pub within 10 minutes of walking, a small shop, a bistro/cafe and a butchers.

Plus if you want to come by train, the station is the same distance away.

The site is Rushcroft Farm well worth a visit if you are wanting to stay within the New Forest.

I had a relatively early night, I wanted to get in a full day of cycling the next day. I didn't have a brilliant nights sleep due to it being a bit warm, and I really should of had the tent around the other way which would of given me more head space when sleeping.

But all in all I felt it was much better than the Banshee.

Till later.......ride safe.

Getting Ready For A Fat Bike Mini Adventure - Bikepacking

Its been a while since I have done any camping, in fact it has been ages!

So with a free weekend coming up I decided to set the bike up ready for a mini adventure.

The plan was to ride out to a local campsite, set up, then the next day do a full days ride, return, camp again, and the next day, ride fully loaded a long way home.

I had never been camping by bicycle before, on a motorbike, especially the Ural you just throw everything in it and not worry about the weight at all.

Different story when you have to self propel the bike!

A few days before I set off it was my birthday, so with a few bits of kits that I got for my birthday, which was the two rear handlebar pouches/dip bags and the front roll handlebar bag I did a trial fitting of all my gear.

I managed to get everything in, but I did use a lightweight summer sleeping bag, for an autumn or winter trip my big sleeping bag would need to be mounted somewhere else!

I have been thinking about adding front panniers, and this may solve the problem as I was a little tight on storage.

The two pouches were brilliant, great for putting odds and ends in along with a spare water bottle. Much easier than having to rummage through either my front bag or rear panniers to try and retrieve things.

My tent was in the roll bag at the front and mounted to that was my small front bag.

This again worked perfectly for the trip.

As this was my first bicycle camping trip I was happy with the set up, it did feel heavy and I was unsure how the rear rack would cope with the weight of the panniers.

This was a concern as I was going to be riding some rough trails through the New Forest!

Well, only one way to find out!

Till next time.......ride safe!

New Bottom Bracket - Grips And Rear Tyre On The Fat Bike

So my Calibre Dune Fat Bike has now had it's first service, all was ok apart from the Bottom Bracket, the clicking noise was still evident, all though it had subsided a little bit.

I took the bike home, but on riding it, was not happy with it so arranged to take it back to them the next day.

I decided to wait whilst they stripped the BB down to see if they could identify exactly what the problem was.

They had out the back a Calibre Dune frame with the BB still on it, so they decided to strip that down as well to see if there was any difference.

It quickly became clear that on stripping down the other BB it had a 2mm spacer fitted which was missing from mine!

This was then fitted to mine and low and behold it solved the problem!

A spacer had not been fitted at the factory, and to be honest the mechanic did not know that there needed to be a spacer fitted.

Anyway, problem solved!

Whilst it was in for service I had some new grips fitted, firstly because the stock ones are absolute rubbish and kept twisting round and working their way off the handlebars, and secondly I have been getting numbing of the fingers.

These now give me the option to move my hands to different positions to see if that eases the problem.

During a routine inspection of my back tyre I noticed that there was what looked like a hole in the tyre.

On removal of the tyre and inner tube it was clear there was, so as a stop gap I plugged the tyre. I am currently running Juggernaut Pro's front and rear, these were fitted from new.

What I noticed about these tyres is that they are extremely light, the side walls are very thin along with the actual tyre itself.

As weight is not really an issue for me I decided to buy another tyre but as I ride a good deal on tarmac and with the associated wear I did not want to spend a great deal.

The plug worked fine, but I did notice some damage to the side wall in various places, so I will keep it as an emergency spare.

I thought I would try a Hengol - it certainly has a bit more meat to it and so far no problems at all!

The cost was only £35.00 including shipping from a company on ebay.

With the new tyre fitted it was time to hit the New Forest Trails

The grips were a huge improvement but the problem has not gone away, so it maybe time to look into butterfly bars to see if even greater options of hand placement is the key.

Till next time - ride safe...................

Fat Bike Calibre Dune In For 1st Service - Bottom Bracket Broken!

Over my last few rides I had started to notice a slight clicking from my bottom bracket on each revolution of my pedals.

For those who are not sure what a bottom bracket is or even where it is or what it does Ill give a quick explanation.

Not my bike!

The bottom bracket or (BB) for short joins the pedals together. It is housed within the frame of the bike and has bearings either side to ensure that as you turn the pedals there is smooth rotation.

Or rather there should be if the bearings are not worn!

My Calibre Dune was due it's 1st service and so I mentioned this to the mechanic who said they would take a look for me.

I received a phone call yesterday saying that the bearings were badly damaged, and I was asked how I cleaned the bike.

It was implied that I must of washed it using a pressure washer as there was no grease in the bearings at all.

The fact that I have not got a pressure washer and have never used it to clean the bike was pointed out to them, and that maybe the fault was due to poor installation in the first place as the bike has only done 700 miles with probably only 300 miles of that off road.

I appreciate that the bearings wear out, but not that quickly.

I have been told that they will replace the bearings under warranty as the bike is so new, but I do have to wait a week for the part to arrive as they do not keep them in stock.

So I am without a bike this week.

Ride safe...............