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Bikepacking adventures and ultra-endurance races have remained my focus in 2025, and the Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL1 Bikepacking tent has cemented itself as a top performer.
From its low 1,101g weight to plenty of thoughtful bikepacking-specific features, it’s become my benchmark in the ultra-light one-person bikepacking tent category.
Before I reveal more on why I’ve been so impressed with this tent, picking only one product for my ‘Gear of the Year’ proved an agonisingly difficult job.
It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the five other products on my shortlist: Garmin’s Edge 1040 Solar, Ornot’s Micro Grid jersey, the Q36.5 Dottore Pro Summer gloves, Schwalbe's G-One RS Pro tyres and the Tailfin CargoPack.
Worth the tall asking price
At £499.99, the Fly Creek HV UL1 Bikepacking tent is a pricey proposition – although you can find it for less if you shop around.
While you don’t need the most expensive tent to go bikepacking (I used a sub-£150 Vango tent when I rode The Pictish Trail, albeit to memorable effect…), a premium option certainly helps in terms of weight and overall footprint.
This bikepacking-specific Fly Creek uses a shorter 12in Shortstik Poleset over the DAC Featherlite NFL pole system found on the backpacking variants, saving 11cm.
It all fits easily into a pack, which can function as a handlebar bag, although I prefer to keep the packed tent in my Tailfin CargoPack or inside a separate bar bag, so I can combine it with other items.
Big Agnes also incorporates some more cycling-friendly features, such as a helmet holder on the outside and daisy chain webbing to hang clothes off – features I’ve made great use of.
Although this tent is only for one person, I find there’s enough room to avoid feeling claustrophobic when I’m inside.
The Fly Creek has accompanied me on four trips this year – it was used on four of the five days I bikepacked the Traversée du Massif Vosgien, a 408km route through the French Vosges mountains with 10,000m elevation.
It came on a weekend trip on the Trans-Cambrian Way in Wales and I then used it on Mother North, a 1,010km gravel ultra-endurance race in Norway with 16,800m elevation. Finally, it came with me when I raced Across Andes – an 806km ulta-endurance race in Chile with 12,100m elevation.
All these rides went through some very remote terrain, where there were no guarantees of a warm bed and camping meant I didn’t have to stick to pre-planned accommodation.
The colour-coded webbing and buckles are helpful to pitch the tent quickly – even in the dark at 2am on one instance in Mother North.
I carry a dedicated footprint for the tent too (£60), which I’d recommend to protect your investment, even though it adds another 143g.
Sure, you can spend more for an even lighter option, but the Fly Creek HV UL1 strikes a nice balance between low weight and comfort.
I’m looking forward to many more trips with this trusty tent in tow.
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