2 man tent
 

Any advice re the best 2 man tent. I am not looking for a 4 season survival job just something that can cope with summer rain. Size is important so a smaller pole size is a must. Cheers mark

I guess it depends where you are in the world.
Over 10 years ago I bought a Coleman 2 person tent while I was in the USA.

Nowadays I would buy a Vango here in the UK.
Oh, doh I forgot, I just did that.

If you genuinely intend to have two persons in your tent, then get a 3 person tent; always one size up from the number of people you expect to be in there.
See the earlier threads in this forum for discussion of that aspect, and many more ideas.

Another vote for Vango. Especially the Banshee 300 (3 man) if you want light weight and small pack size, reasonable space and ease of setting up.

I like the MSR Hubba Hubba:

Pro's
quick to put up and pulldown
light and packs small
You can sit up in it
lots of room due to the pole & hubb configuration
you can get in and out from both sides
2 vestibules for storage
on warm nights you can just pitch the mossie inner and stargaze
lots of accessories available if yo want them
free standing so you can easily move it when pitched
poles fold down small

Con's
Can be quite expensive compared to a vango

My REI Half Dome Plus has served me well for about 4 years now, although Im not trying to live out of it. Mostly weekend trips with my once a year week long trip. Been thru rain, snow and 40mph winds.

Tarptent Ultralight Shelters

Some of the smallest and lightest around. Uses a walking pole or can be tied off a tree if you sew a loop on the outside.

I too have an REI Half Dome Plus, works well but I think would be too small for two people. It's even a bit small for just myself if I want to put gear in there to keep it out of the rain. As mentioned before, look for a good size 3-person tent.
Your profile does not have a location, and tents we have in N. America generally aren't available in Europe or vice versa.
If pole size is an issue - I modified my tents by cutting down the poles to fit inside a pannier and then buying one or two extra sections to get them back to the original size. Here's one source for tent pole sections: TentPole Technologies — Tent Pole Repair and Replacement Specialist
If you intend to do this, avoid REI tents because they use custom formed poles.

You can always pack the poles separately from the tent fabric; this gives you more options for where to carry them on the bike.

+ well priced, especially when you can find them on sale at a discount now that the summer is gone.
(I guess any manuf/model of tent available in the northern hemisphere is on sale at a discount right now!)

Are the Vango's free-standing? Experienced overlanders tell me this is a really important function to have on ya tent.

Vango Tempest is a NO, you have to pull it taught with lines and pegs at either end. Not sure about other models. The good thing a pitch in one, like the Vango's, is that you can pitch it even when it's pissing it down. Luckily, the MSR is so quick and easy, otherwise the inner would be soaked.

It's really nice to be able to just pick your freestanding tent up and move it if needed. And if it's freestanding you don't need to be able to bang a peg in the ground in order to pitch it. Think very soft ground like sand or very hard surfaces like concrete.

eureka! evo-2 close to $100, works well

Banshee is not freestanding, but is quite easy to move once set up.

For us the best 2 man tent, considering price and packing size is the Jack Wolfskin Eclipse 2.
The big pro for us is that my wife can set it up by her own and that they're two entrances, so each of us has his/her own entrance, no need to crawl over eachother when needing to go to pee or whatever at night.
We used it for 4 months on our last trip for at least 3 days a week and we left it in Kyrgyzstan when taking a plane back home.
Bought exactly the same the week after it for the next trip and paid 120€...
They are better tents yes, but this one is cheap, good quality and a one (wo)man job to mount or dismount and two entrances, plenty of room for us.

+1 on the MSR. It's an excellent tent. Small and light weight, easily moved when you need to, and the inner mesh is excellent in the heat!