Sea to Summit Telos TR2 Review: The Perfect Bikepacking Tent for Adventure?

In the world of multi-day trips in the great outdoors, one of the biggest decisions you need to make is around how you are going to sleep. This involves some weighty consideration around relative comfort, weight, pack size, budget, weather, and even flexibility. Between multi-day adventures on foot or by bike I’ve slept in just about every option: huts (can be full, or old and gross), bivy bags (ever had that buried alive nightmare?), snow shelves (draughty), tarps (hello mosquitos), fly-only tent setups (still here, mosquitoes?), snow caves (shouldn’t have built it under a helipad), piles of hay next to a station, plush hotels, rank hotels, hostels, and of course – a variety of tents.

When it comes to bikepacking, or multi-day bike trips in an era before the bikepacking term was used, I’ve erred towards minimalism. If I’m there to ride, I’d rather carry less and ride more. That’s led me to use high country huts, hotels, flies – and only once did I use a tent. It was very cramped, weighed just under 2kg, and was still a bit awkward to carry.

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With the boom in bikepacking and adventures on two wheels, it is no surprise that the outdoor gear market has exploded with bikepacking-specific gear. Thanks to countless hikers, climbers, and backcountry ski bums searching for super light equipment over decades, many brands have been taking existing, high-quality designs and refining them to suit the bikepacking market. The Sea to Summit Telos TR2 is one such product, based on the popular Telos backpacking tent.

A closer look at the Sea to Summit Telos TR2

The Telos Bikepacking TR2 comes in two roll-top bags that can be attached to your bike thanks to the straps and webbing. One bag holds the tent body, and the other has the fly, poles, and pegs. The poles have been shortened compared to the original Telos unit, meaning they pack to a shorter length: a huge bonus for fitting around the dimensions of a bike.

The Telos is a 3-season tent, meaning it has a mesh inner with a seam-sealed bathtub floor, and the fly goes low enough to the ground for wind protection – but not so low to prevent snow blowing in during a blizzard. Here in Australia, this is just about perfect unless you plan to ride a fat bike from Jindabyne to Khancoban via the Schlink Pass in the middle of winter.

There are 8 super light pegs included and 4 ultralight guy ropes. The tent comes with a repair kit and instructions printed onto the bag – although it is pretty self-explanatory if you’ve ever put a tent up before. I weighed this tent at 2142g with all the straps and repair kits included, not far off the claimed 1914g when you look at what you’ll actually carry.

Pitching the Telos TR2

The Telos TR2 doesn’t come with a footprint, but Sea to Summit does make one. I’d recommend investing in one so the lightweight floor has a longer life. This is a free-standing tent but it is suggested you peg out the corners of the tent inner to start. The pole is one unit that clips together with the internal shock cord, and there is a cross-member in the middle that arches upwards slightly. The ends are colour-coded where they clip to the tent, so it’s easy to set up, and then clip the inner to the pole. The fly is best attached at the ridge pole first, then attached to each corner, and pegged out for the vestibules. The little cinch cords mean you can make it nice and taut, plus there are the guy lines you can attach.

There is a door on each side, a large zipped vent in the fly, and two large vestibules. The cross-member pole (or Tension Ridge) does wonders for increasing not only the height of the door for entry but also the headroom in the tent – it is far roomier than you would expect for a light tent with a modest footprint.

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Inside, there is a generous mesh pocket on each side, and lash points to attach some of the accessories Sea to Summit makes – including their light tube diffuser, which is part of the packaging.

The Sea to Summit Telos TR2 in use

The Telos TR2 has a novel approach to packing, with the tent being packed into two bags that can strap onto your frame or fork with provided straps and webbing. The bags seemed really robust, with roll-top closures and generous strap lengths, which add a lot of versatility for where you mount them. The design has poles that pack up shorter to work with the bags – or other bikepacking luggage.

I opted to mount them around my fork legs, but you could easily split the load with your bikepacking buddy, using one of your frame tubes or even a rear rack like those from Tailfin or Aeroe. I did need to wrench down quite a lot on the rubber straps, as when I first fitted the bags ‘snug’ they did wander south – especially noticeable on a Fox Step Cast fork where the lowers are stepped in. I just got used to cinching them up tighter, which was better on any fork in the end.

For a tent under 2kg, I was impressed by the room not just inside, but in the vestibules as well. Thanks to what Sea to Summit calls the Tension Ridge, the tent has extra headroom. But this isn’t just handy for sitting up, it also means the door height is a bit higher, and it also makes the vestibule more useful as well, creating more internal space than if the fly was not far from the mesh inner. I think this is crucial for having enough room to store things that you don’t want in your tent but don’t want left out either.

At over 2m long, my 178cm height had no issues pushing against either end. It is still a snug 2-person tent but with two people in mummy sleeping bags, there is enough room. Not all light tents have two doors and two vestibules, so that is fantastic for comfort, especially given the cross breeze you can get for warmer weather. This is pretty palatial for one person, but if you’re quite tall and need a lot of room, I suspect you may prefer to use this solo.

Verdict on the Sea to Summit Telos TR2

Sea to Summit has modified a highly popular tent to make it better for bikepackers. There is a lot to love about the design that creates a lot of room from a light package while delivering great comfort, versatility, and suitability for an Australian market. I really like the design being split into two highly functional bags ready to be mounted on your bike; however, those are the only things where I had minor niggles. They must be removed to repack the tent, and repacking them feels harder than needed. But the tent itself is a winner, and if you already have your luggage system worked out, you’ll love the shorter poles that fit in more bags. Weight weenies may cringe as there are some incredible tents around that are far lighter, but this one is fully featured with luggage included, and it can be stripped back to close to 1500g if you use your own luggage. I’m impressed.

RRP: $1099.99
From: seatosummit.com.au

Hits of Sea to Summit Telos TR2:

– Bikepacking-specific design
– Low weight with lots of room
– Fully featured

Misses of Sea to Summit Telos TR2:

– Included luggage system may not suit all