Vedomosti continues its series of tests of “car” bicycles: this time we received a two-wheeled Land Rover. These bikes for Land Rover are made by the British brand 2x2worldwide. Land Rover is famous primarily for its SUVs, and the one we tested was an off-road bike: dual suspension with a RockShox Monarch rear shock absorber and wheels with a diameter of 27.5 inches and a width of 2.2 inches. This bike was assembled in Vietnam.

Read on vedomosti.ru Irina Chevtaeva

Editor of vedomosti.ru. Height 173 cm. Drives a Strida LT

Secrets of setting up a dual gimbal

Land Rover Dynamic Air is a classic mountain dual-suspension suspension for cross-country. When choosing such a bicycle, first of all, attention should be paid to the front and rear shock absorbers. This dual suspension bike has a budget Rock Shox 30 Gold air fork up front. What's good about her? Set up quickly and clearly. The rebound and spring stiffness can be adjusted and, if desired, the travel lock can be set. The standard fork travel is 100 mm; its weight, by the way, is only 1660 g. It feels like a larger stroke is not needed.

Rock Shox has released an affordable fork for hobbyists and recommends its own Monarch family rear shock. This is what is installed on Land Rover. Monarch R allows you to adjust the rebound and change the air pressure in it to adjust the travel of the rear shock absorber - for this, a clear and convenient scale is drawn. It shows not only millimeters, but also the ratio as a percentage.

Riding on a full-suspension bike without adjusting the shock absorbers to suit your weight, pace and terrain is a crime. There is no point in buying a mountain bike for 130,000 rubles. and ride it like a city bike on asphalt. Adjusting the compression of the rear shock absorber under the weight of the biker to the stroke of the rod on an unloaded bicycle (the so-called sag) is best done with an assistant. A great option is when you get on the bike, and your assistant records the sag and looks at the value on the scale. If you ride on asphalt, it is recommended to set the value to 20%, if off-road - 30% or 40%, depending on the weight of the biker. Large values are set, as a rule, by those who go through very difficult mountain sections with large descents and ascents. There is a special formula for sag on the Internet.

Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti

But before you change anything in the rear shock settings, take it for a ride on dual suspension. First set the maximum rebound parameter, then the minimum - and feel the difference. And then start setting it up. While driving, you may have the desire to change the settings many times. With active daily riding on a double suspension, it usually takes me two to three days to finally adjust the bike to suit me. The rebound of the front and rear shock absorbers must be the same, otherwise the fork will not have time to return to its original position while the rear shock absorber has already returned. And then, in the best case scenario, you will receive a light slap on the butt. If the rebound occurs too slowly for two shock absorbers, then after passing the first obstacle they will not have time to return to their original state in order to successfully pass the next obstacle. And this is fraught with breakdown. Sometimes the correct rebound setting is checked this way: raise the bike about 20–30 cm and then carefully release it. And they watch how the front and rear wheels rebound on a flat surface. Ideally, the rebound should be the same. On the test bike, the value at rest under me was 50%, as I rode off-road in the park, and then on small inclines and descents. At the same time, driving on asphalt was uncomfortable, despite the fact that the dual suspension took on any obstacles and curbs. With a lot of energy expended, I was unable to accelerate quickly. In addition, I entered the park from the wrong direction. As a result, we first had to drive uphill along a rocky road, then it turned into clay slurry with cones, sticks and humus. The wheels sank, I drove slowly and heavily. However, the bike behaved steadily.

This dual-suspension system has good maneuverability, the steering wheel obeys perfectly: I went around the trees without any problems, walking along the roots very close to the trunk. Once I almost flew into a swamp with ducks, but managed to react and drove through the bushes without falling over.

Adam Adamov

Head of IT department. Height is 169 cm. He rides a self-assembled cross-country bike on an Atom frame.

Forward into the thicket!

Coincidentally, a Land Rover bicycle came to us for testing in the trunk of a Land Rover car with a hybrid engine. A symbolic, in my opinion, expression of the manufacturer’s commitment to environmental friendliness.

The noble dark gray frame with red inserts and inscriptions immediately attracts attention - it looks solid and beautiful.

Put the backpack on your back and you're ready to go. It’s quite a long drive from the office in Maryina Roshcha to Losinoostrovsky Park. On the asphalt, I immediately felt the lack of fixation of the rear shock absorber - there is a fixation of the front fork, which to some extent makes it easier to ride on asphalt, but I would like to ride without swinging at all.

Literally after a kilometer I realize that I didn’t adjust the rear shock absorber properly for my weight, but I don’t feel like going back for the pump and decide to continue on my way, which I later regretted - at times the shock absorber worked to the limit.

We were pleased with the speed switches - clear, without false switching, whether on flat terrain or in extreme conditions.

There are not enough hills in the park, but paths of varying degrees of unevenness can be found to suit every taste, and this is where all the advantages of a dual-suspension system manifested themselves: it doesn’t shake, it doesn’t knock your breath out, and you ride with great pleasure. But in difficult sections, I almost immediately felt that the pedals were small and the outer part of the foot was hanging down - the leg slipped under load. I would replace them immediately after purchasing the bike.

The brakes are disappointing: the manufacturer claims to have hydraulic disc brakes using mineral oil, but the feel and response are mechanical.

Unfortunately, many bicycle manufacturers make the mistake of attaching entry-level equipment to an otherwise good frame. Land Rover did not escape this either.

Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti

I rode back to the office the next day on the same bike, having already adjusted the rear shock absorber, and the ride was transformed: it didn’t push so hard, it was easier and more comfortable to ride - the only problem was the hard seat. However, this bike is not intended for riding on asphalt: it is better to take it to the forest, unload it from the trunk - and go into the thicket!

Alexander Gubsky

Deputy Chief Editor. Height is 180 cm. He rides a Focus Black Forest 27R bicycle.

Automotive valve and other joys

A Land Rover bicycle has tires from Continental (the lion's share of its business comes from the production of automobile tires). And, to my satisfaction, the Continental bicycle tires had classic automobile valves with a diameter of 8 mm, and not the 6 mm bicycle valves that are usually used on the wheels of “serious” bicycles. A thinner presta means a smaller diameter hole in the wheel rim, which makes it more durable.

I don’t know how quickly you can kill the wheel of even a cross-country bike with a car valve if you ride it in the mode of an ordinary person and keep your head on - we didn’t manage to do this in two weeks of testing. But the owner of a bicycle with such wheels will be guaranteed to be spared the need to buy a high-pressure pump for Presta or look for an adapter - a traditional car pump will suffice. I like this option.

I also liked the Land Rover Dynamic Air in general. Even on asphalt, even on climbs - I thought that on a dual suspension with a non-fixed rear shock absorber it would be harder to climb. But it’s okay, I did it.

And even more so, I liked the Dynamic Air on the trails of the Bitsevsky Forest Park - otherwise I had already begun to forget how great it is to fly down on a double suspension. Not the widest, but toothy Xking tires provided good grip and precise trajectory tracking even on a dirt road soaked after rain.

Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti Sergey Paranko

Director of Digital Products. Height 188 cm. Rides Smoove Btwin bicycles

For the Land Rover fan

Land Rover Dynamic Air is a bike for everyone. At the same time, first of all, for lovers of Land Rover cars and off-road vehicles. And the second one is for cycling enthusiasts. A good, reliable bike that, with a little fiddling, can be configured for comfortable riding around the city. But driving it on asphalt is boring, it lacks some kind of daring. I was also confused by the six or even eight Land Rover labels on the bike. More than once I blushed deeply in the elevator when people nearby, out of boredom, tried to count them. It’s another matter when you turn off the road onto a forest path in the Dynamic Air. It's just a delight! And it’s not at all scary to fly into a deep hole or jump over some kind of obstacle. Isn't this the most valuable thing in an SUV? And if you know the thrill of kneading dirt, and you’re a Land Rover fan, I know which bike to recommend. Just erase the extra labels.

Land Rover Dynamic Air: forward into the thicket!