robens lodge 2 tent on offer

[jags]

thanks i'll look at that now.

fantastic thanks for that ,do you have many people sign up for that tour what month is best im thinking nice sunny weather.
thanks again

jags.

[bretonbikes]

:wink: thanks i'll look at that now.

fantastic thanks for that ,do you have many people sign up for that tour what month is best im thinking nice sunny weather.
thanks again

jags.

Hi Jags

They are not really the same as our commercial tours because they all start and finish in the centre of Brittany (a place called Gouarec and superb as a base for any cycletourists). The two routes I sent have some common sections with our own routes but with mods to make them work well starting and finishing in Roscoff. If you are interested in one of our tours then please contact me as a U2U or through the bretonbikes website and I can sort you out, but this isn't the place for obvious reasons;-)

As for weather, it's always a lottery. Brittany has a reputation for rain in the summer promulgated by the French and it's true that average rainfall is higher than in the south, but it's far from the wettest part of France, and more importantly doesn't suffer from the extremes of weather the south has - no flash floods, massive storms, 40 degrees in the shade etc - it's all rather more gentle;-) Generally if you imagine the weather in the South West of England and add a bit more sun, a bit less rain (and because the sun is stronger the rain often falls at night in summer) - and you won't be far off. If I were to pick one month over any other to come then it would be June - it's very quiet, the weather is likely to be good and everything is green and lush from the spring, with lots of songbirds and flowers. There really isn't a month you need to avoid though - the last three years have seen beautiful Septembers, and the last two weeks of October have been magical;-)

[jags]

Again thanks for the info much appreciated.
if things pick up for me this year i'll book one of your tours for next june .

thanks
jags

[bretonbikes]

What's the situation with getting spare poles breton?

Are third party generic spares available.

I fully expect the 10mm poles to be stronger than the things used on two vango tents i have but worry about the 10mm ones maybe being less common.

Just checked and on a brief clickthrough it still seems to be available.

I really shouldn't be buying another tent but your write up was so glowing .....

Sorry -missed this. Because of the simple crossover design any generic pole can be cut to length - no need for any fancy fittings and the like and in extremis 9mm poles would do the job. My experience is that accidents apart the tent will last as long as the poles - i.e. a long time...

[Sweep]

So no gothic arch bits?

I always worry about those.

Maybe they have certain advantages but they always seem a bit of a bodge to me and make things less generic.

As i have got older i have come to appreciate simplicity in everything, including bikes. The result maybe of two of my bikes - one a 'dale with non standard suspension/headset and a sporty dahon with the sheer lunacy of hub suspension.

Sorry to be a pain breton, looking forward to your reply.

[bretonbikes]

So no gothic arch bits?

I always worry about those.

Maybe they have certain advantages but they always seem a bit of a bodge to me and make things less generic.

As i have got older i have come to appreciate simplicity in everything, including bikes. The result maybe of two of my bikes - one a 'dale with non standard suspension/headset and a sporty dahon with the sheer lunacy of hub suspension.

Sorry to be a pain breton, looking forward to your reply.

No they are absolutely bog standard (quality) alloy poles. Still no breakages;-)

[Sweep]

Currently £80.10 with gift10 code (valid today) with free delivery or collect from store at Blacks.

Had an email from blacks and so ordered one.

Can't see them ever getting much cheaper.

Thanks for the reccomendation, breton.

I have every faith in your judgement.

[bretonbikes]

Currently £80.10 with gift10 code (valid today) with free delivery or collect from store at Blacks.

Had an email from blacks and so ordered one.

Can't see them ever getting much cheaper.

Thanks for the reccomendation, breton.

I have every faith in your judgement.

Let us all know how you get on - adds to the knowledge base;-)

[pjclinch]

So no gothic arch bits?

I always worry about those.

Maybe they have certain advantages but they always seem a bit of a bodge to me and make things less generic.

I'm with you on this. First time I came across that idea I thought about how the gothic arch was a stronger, lighter arch that had enabled leaps and bounds in medieval cathedral-building and it was good to apply that to tents... but then second thoughts came back and said that's mainly going to be a help with vertical loads, and we don't generally have too much snow-loading to worry about, but winds hitting side on probably won't be at all bothered by a pointed arch oriented at right angles. And then, as you say, you've got a less generic thing that'll be harder to repair, and it'll probably mean more awkward to set up... So why bother?

Pete.

[Sweep]

Let us all know how you get on - adds to the knowledge base;-)

Afraid I won't be able to Breton. After accepting the order on the 25th, Blacks have just emailed to say that there is no stock.

Hopefully the tent won't be discontinued, will look out for one at a good price in the future.

[bretonbikes]

Let us all know how you get on - adds to the knowledge base;-)

Afraid I won't be able to Breton. After accepting the order on the 25th, Blacks have just emailed to say that there is no stock.

Hopefully the tent won't be discontinued, will look out for one at a good price in the future.

Rats - the price was less than I pay trade...

[Sweep]

The offer this thread title refers to is no more of course but this seemed like the best place to put my on-topic follow up question about this trent to the knowledgeable Bretonbikes.

As you know Breton, I would have had one of these in my mitts last December if Blacks hadn't taken an order and then said, oops we don't have one, so am not time wasting.

On looking at it some more, I wondered if I could ask about pack size for carrying on a bike (I don't know if your customers carry their own tents) - The Robens website appears to put the pack size of the Lodge 2 at 56 x 18cm. Is 56 a bit long for putting on a bike? - I tend to put my tent sideways on the top of the rack and for this 50cm seems to be the best limit. Is it possible to reduce this or is it dictated by the pole lengths or something else?

Another question is related to the odd fact that sometimes in the wacky world of capitalism/promos, it can be cheaper to buy the big size. The Lodge 2's pack size of 56x18 and weight of 3.3kg stacks up against the Lodge 3's 57x20 and 3.7kg. Not a mega amount more and for me 3.7kg isn't a deal breaker. But would you consider the 3 just barmily oversized for a solo traveller? - I do know a few folk who solo travel with a 3 berth.

Oh, final question - how easy would it be for a single person to erect this tent as I note from the video that you appear to erect the inner first and then drape the flysheet over it. My old cheapo Vango dome tent erected like that - I loved that tent but there were two of us - wonder if you might end up trying to manhandle a sail in more than a slight breeze.

all the best,

[bretonbikes]

The offer this thread title refers to is no more of course but this seemed like the best place to put my on-topic follow up question about this trent to the knowledgeable Bretonbikes.

As you know Breton, I would have had one of these in my mitts last December if Blacks hadn't taken an order and then said, oops we don't have one, so am not time wasting.

On looking at it some more, I wondered if I could ask about pack size for carrying on a bike (I don't know if your customers carry their own tents) - The Robens website appears to put the pack size of the Lodge 2 at 56 x 18cm. Is 56 a bit long for putting on a bike? - I tend to put my tent sideways on the top of the rack and for this 50cm seems to be the best limit. Is it possible to reduce this or is it dictated by the pole lengths or something else?

Another question is related to the odd fact that sometimes in the wacky world of capitalism/promos, it can be cheaper to buy the big size. The Lodge 2's pack size of 56x18 and weight of 3.3kg stacks up against the Lodge 3's 57x20 and 3.7kg. Not a mega amount more and for me 3.7kg isn't a deal breaker. But would you consider the 3 just barmily oversized for a solo traveller? - I do know a few folk who solo travel with a 3 berth.

Oh, final question - how easy would it be for a single person to erect this tent as I note from the video that you appear to erect the inner first and then drape the flysheet over it. My old cheapo Vango dome tent erected like that - I loved that tent but there were two of us - wonder if you might end up trying to manhandle a sail in more than a slight breeze.

all the best,

OK firstthe easy one;-) - The Lodge 3 is enough to have a dance in - the '2' is more than enough;-) - I don't have a tent to hand, but yes all our customers carry their tents and sideways on the back and 'no' there isn't a problem with pack length. One of my pet hates (Decothlon take note) is manufacturers putting twice as many joints as needed in a tent to get a good headline pack-size - if a pole breaks it will be at a joint - the more joints the greater the risk of breakage...

The inner goes up first in about 30 seconds, the outer drops on top - it's very very easy.

[Sweep]

brilliant to the point/s answer breton. Many thanks.

One other question to try your patience.

I remember over a year ago you bemoaning the fact that Robens had downgraded the poles on the new stock of the tents you had bought for your operation.

Am assuming these have been used a bit by now.

How are the generic as opposed to DAC poles bearing up?

[bretonbikes]

brilliant to the point/s answer breton. Many thanks.

One other question to try your patience.

I remember over a year ago you bemoaning the fact that Robens had downgraded the poles on the new stock of the tents you had bought for your operation.

Am assuming these have been used a bit by now.

How are the generic as opposed to DAC poles bearing up?

They seem fine with the new 'downgrade' holding up all year - the critical thing in tent pole lifespan is the radius of the bend. The Robens isn't too extreme, there are few joints so they are reliable. Up til now we've still yet to have a pole snap - no other tent has done this for a season.

To summarise from our experience of hundreds of tents from major manufacturers in the last 26 years.

1 - Look at the poles of any tent and if they have four 'dimples' at the joint to fix the ferrule in place the pole will fail at this point, often you'll see cracks here on unused poles - avoid.

2 - Joints are the weak spot - the more joints, the shorter the poles, the more chance of failure.

3 - Radius of bend. I'll not be dogmatic on an actual measurement, but personally I can 'feel' when a pole is being bent too tight (just get that clenched buttocks feel;-) - very few tunnel tents have radii I'm comfortable with - those with cross poles in a 'dome' are better, ditto geodesic and single hoop and the Robens is relatively 'shallow' - giving a little less space (less vertical sides) but far more reliability. For any tent using tight radii the poles MUST be pre-bent - otherwise they will fail regardless of Aluminium quality. Pre-bent poles are the solution, but very few manufacturers bother - penny pinching at its worse and almost universal.