Tiger Bike Shed – Show Site Review

Hands-On Show-Site Inspection – Tong Garden Centre

The simplest products are often the hardest to get right.

A bike shed doesn’t need gimmicks. It doesn’t need clever marketing language or over-engineered features. What it does need is space, strength, sensible proportions, and materials that will cope with bikes being wheeled in wet, muddy, and heavy — year after year.

That’s the lens we brought to our inspection of the Tiger Bike Shed at the Tong Garden Centre show site.

Tiger also produce the TigerFlex Shiplap Apex Bike Shed, so it makes sense to reference that model where helpful. But this review is specifically about the standard Tiger Bike Shed — the fixed-panel, traditional option — and for many buyers, this will actually be the more straightforward and better-suited choice.

First Impressions at the Tong Show Site

We inspected this shed on a rainy day, which is exactly the condition you want when assessing an outdoor building. Showrooms are one thing; real weather tells the truth.

You can see in the photos how water was beading cleanly on the exterior finish — doing precisely what it’s designed to do. There was no streaking, no obvious pooling, and no sense that the building was struggling with exposure.

This is very clearly a working bike shed, not a decorative garden feature.

Width: The Detail That Changes Everything

The single biggest practical difference between this shed and the TigerFlex Apex Bike Shed is width.

• Tiger Bike Shed: 7ft wide
• TigerFlex Apex Bike Shed: 6ft wide

On paper, one foot doesn’t sound dramatic. In practice, it makes a huge difference.

That extra width gives you:

• more clearance for handlebars
• easier turning and positioning
• less bike-on-bike interference
• far less frustration when storing multiple bikes

This becomes particularly important on the 5ft deep version, where depth without width can quickly feel awkward. Here, the proportions feel balanced.

If you’re dealing with modern bikes — especially mountain bikes, gravel bikes, or e-bikes — that extra lateral space matters more than most buyers expect.

Headroom & Day-to-Day Usability

Like the TigerFlex Apex model, this is an apex-roof bike shed, and that immediately gives it a usability advantage over most pent designs.

I’m six foot tall, and once inside the shed, I could stand comfortably upright. That alone removes a huge amount of daily irritation.

With pent bike sheds, the experience is often:

• stoop at the door
• stoop again further inside
• wrestle bikes out while hunched

Here, once you’re through the doorway, the space feels open rather than claustrophobic.

Combined with the extra width, this shed feels calm to use, not cramped or fiddly.

That may sound like a small thing — but over years of daily access, it’s the difference between a shed you enjoy using and one you tolerate.

Construction & Materials: Exactly What You Want to See

From a build-quality perspective, this is exactly what we expect from Tiger — and that’s a compliment.

According to the technical specification , the shed uses:

• 12mm shiplap tongue-and-groove cladding
• 12mm tongue-and-groove floor
• 12mm tongue-and-groove roof
• 28 × 44mm rounded four-corner framing
• No OSB anywhere

That last point matters.

Bikes come in wet. Constantly. Solid timber boards are designed to get wet and dry out repeatedly. OSB is not. Once moisture gets into OSB, degradation is inevitable.

Tiger have avoided that problem entirely here.

Underfoot, the floor feels rock solid. There’s no flex, no creaking, and no sense of cost-cutting. Walls feel rigid. The structure behaves as a single, unified building.

This is not a lightweight or flimsy bike shed.

Standard Build vs TigerFlex: Structural Perspective

Because this is not a TigerFlex model, the structure is built specifically for this size.

That means:

• fewer joints
• fewer interfaces
• fewer alignment variables

From a purely structural point of view, this is as straightforward and robust as it gets.

Everything is fixed-panel, square, and direct. You can see that clearly in the photos — the way the boards line up, how the apex meets cleanly, and how the whole building sits true.

While TigerFlex offers flexibility, this standard version offers simplicity and inherent strength. For many buyers, that’s exactly what they want.

Doors, Framing & Hardware

The doors are excellent.

They are:

• fully boarded tongue-and-groove
• properly braced
• substantial in weight
• fitted with a lock and key as standard

When you open and close them, there’s no twist or sag. They feel like shed doors, not cupboard doors.

The framing around the doors is solid, and the opening is generous — again, reinforcing that this shed has been designed for real bike use, not just storage on paper.

Roof, Felt & Weather Protection

The roof uses 12mm tongue-and-groove boards, covered with black mineral felt .

From experience, this is exactly the combination you want. Even if felt were damaged temporarily, solid timber boards can tolerate exposure far better than sheet materials.

The apex design ensures effective water runoff, and the bargeboards trap the felt edges neatly, reducing wind lift.

Everything about the roof feels properly considered.

Security: The Familiar, Honest Caveat

There is one criticism — and it’s the same one we raise across much of Tiger’s bike storage range.

The hinges are fixed using standard Pozidriv screws.

In everyday use, this is not an issue. The shed is solid, the doors are heavy, and nothing is casually being broken into.

However, if you are storing multiple bikes — potentially worth several thousand pounds — it’s only fair to acknowledge that hinge fixings are the theoretical weak point.

The good news is that this is very easy to resolve. Replacing the screws with bolts or security fixings is a simple, low-cost upgrade that dramatically improves peace of mind.

Everything else about the shed is extremely robust.

Assembly & Installation

Assembly follows Tiger’s INS08 Apex building system .

Key points worth noting:

• two competent adults required
• a firm, level base is essential
• pre-drilling is recommended
• alignment matters

The instructions are clear, thorough, and well illustrated. This isn’t a rushed flat-pack — it’s a proper timber building that rewards care during assembly.

Tiger’s professional installation service is also available for buyers who prefer not to DIY.

Who Is This Bike Shed Best For?

The Tiger Bike Shed is ideal for:

• households with multiple bikes
• buyers who want maximum internal width
• people who prefer traditional fixed-panel construction
• anyone who values simplicity, strength, and longevity

If you don’t need the modular flexibility of TigerFlex, this standard model is arguably the more straightforward and satisfying option.

Final Verdict

The Tiger Bike Shed is exactly what a bike shed should be:

• wide, not cramped
• tall enough to stand comfortably
• built with proper shed-grade materials
• no OSB shortcuts
• strong, simple, and durable

Aside from the easily addressed hinge-fixing point, there are no meaningful weaknesses here.

If you want a traditional, spacious, apex bike shed that’s built to last — and that’s genuinely pleasant to use day-to-day — this is an excellent choice.

It’s a no-nonsense, well-executed building from a manufacturer that clearly understands how people actually use bike sheds.