Adventure Bike Rider Forum

jasext wrote:Just out of interest, in the product tests it would be good to know how they were tested and how long for.
I have seen some reviews where they receive items for test , play with them for a day and write a review based on that. They don't actually spend any time with the items

I agree with Jase. When testing an erection it is important to put it through all types of conditions. Wet n windy, dry and inhospitable and also very important to test time to deploy said erection for purposes intended

AndyB wrote:

Sand Rover wrote:Guys don't write anything negative about the magazine or the people involved with it, not even as a joke, as one of the moderators will just delete your post, just pay your money and keep your opinion to your self....

As far tents go you only get what you pay for...

When have you had a post deleted for saying anything negative about the magazine?

I agree 100% with you when you say that you only get what you pay for with tents but I'm really curious to hear about those deleted posts?
I've yet to buy a copy of the magazine because it's got nothing to offer that I want to read but this forum censorship bit intrigues me :whistle:

well i replied to craigs largeway2round post about his adventure rally saying was it an ABR rally or was it just a little site trying to feed of the bigger more financially stable site with all the members, thats the thing about independence there's no going back

All said as a joke but one of the moderators just deleted my post but obviously a friend of Craigs... no big deal just the way it is on here B)

Willandkate wrote:

jasext wrote:Just out of interest, in the product tests it would be good to know how they were tested and how long for.
I have seen some reviews where they receive items for test , play with them for a day and write a review based on that. They don't actually spend any time with the items

I agree with Jase. When testing an erection it is important to put it through all types of conditions. Wet n windy, dry and inhospitable and also very important to test time to deploy said erection for purposes intended

PMSL I think you've got the wrong mag Will!!

Sleepy wrote:The tent 'test' what is that all about then, I mean.. no info on weights or pack down size, the main specs for a motorcycle friendly tent..

..also, the 'selection' I bet there aren't many ABR readers that will splash out much more than say £100 to £150 for a reasonable item, yet nearly all of them were over £160, some of them over £300.

Now I'm not really a tight sod, but no way would I spend that sort of money for the my holiday tent, which I suspect is what most people here use them for.

Why no Coleman tents? they have a very good selection at very affordable prices, the same with Vango, (which was represented with one tent).

It came across as a very lazy article, done with the aid of a tent catalogue, very poor!

The rest of he mag is looking good though, sorry for the negative vibes, but as a tent tart, I was looking forward to a bit of porn..

Thanks for the feedback Sleepy. Point taken about the specs not being shown, they'll definitely be included in the future.

With regards to the selection, as others have mentioned, and as I discovered first hand when testing these tents, you really do get what you pay for, but as we'rd limited to a number of pages in the mag we can't include every single brand. I'd like to think that there was a nice selection of tents from across the price range in the review though.

Hope you enjoyed the rest of the mag!

If you want to find proper lightweight tents, don't look in bike magazines, buy one aimed at hikers or adventure walkers (or whatever they're called now)

I've never had an expensive tent so can't comment about how good they are. I'd take a lot of convincing. If I paid £300 for a tent then accidentally ripped it or worse, someone else did, I'd be devastated - £300 is a lot of petrol.

Why doesn't the mag ask us to write reviews.

I've often ssaid that we on here are a very good source of info on all products out there...oh and we are free as well..important that bit.

So if the mag said they were going to run an article on sleeping bags...they could ask us all to write 500 words with pics on what we have. then all teh mag have to do is collate the info...then nobody can moan.

Nathan..if you see this..ask for help and ye shall recieve.

Mike

Havent read the mag yet but if there are no Coleman tents then IMO the best biker tent has been missed.

The Coleman Avior x2. Ive been through a lot of tents and none compare to this little cracking budget tent. Cost is approx. £95 (just checked ebay), think I paid about £80 a year or so ago.

I wanted something lightweight, small pack size, pitched as 1 (hate pitching an inner first, what happens when it rains!), under £100, quick pitch, porch.

Not a lot around to satisfy all the above. But the Coleman Avior x2 ticks all boxes.

Its 2.5kg, and packs pretty small. Pitches in about 3 minutes, 2 poles. And goes down quickly and is easy to get back into its stuff sack. Pretty compact inside. But enough space for all 6 foot 5 of me and luggage. Porch is big enough for wet biking gear and maybe cooking if required.

Definitely recommend this tent.

Mike101 wrote:Why doesn't the mag ask us to write reviews.

Don't think anyone is stopping you from forwarding any type of article

Customer reviews give a better idea of how something operates and stands up to real life than mag reviews. But it could open a never ending debate. Do magazines get royalties from companies when reviewing their products? I dunno :huh:

At the recent Taffy Dakar event -
on the campsite there were more Vango Omega 350 tents than any other model - and a couple of Omega 250's

just saying
and yes - how sad that I counted

It's a good suggestion Mike, and involving forum folk is certainly something I'd be keen to encourage, as the mag and the website shouldn't be as mutually exclusive as they perhaps currently are.

Problem I see with something like the tents or sleeping bags being reviewed by the person that owns one, and a montage of said reviews, is that they wouldn't necessarily have much to compare theirs too, and one man's palace is another man's pain in the ass. So coming to any meaningful conclusions as to which is best might be tricky.

That's not to say if there was a more bespoke product, or unique product that someone's been using, say a Spot tracker or something, then we could look at it.

And no, we don't get kickbacks for featuring stuff. Obviously, if someone advertises then it helps get their tent tested, but that doesn't guarantee good results, same with any of the other tests on bikes and stuff. My morals are loose, but not that loose.