[REVIEW] 42139 Technic All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV)

[mostlytechnic]

Technic All-Terrain Vehicle

Thanks to Lego and EB for this review set. 

Over the years, Lego has made a lot of ATVs. However, most of them have been small, minifig sized models either as a vehicle in a larger set or as a small set on their own. Usually they're police or fire themed (as are most City sets), such as 2015's ATV Patrol:

They have taken the ATV name quite literally though, all the way to other planets' terrain:

Now though, Technic is tackling the ATV concept and taking the scale WAY up. They're sticking to Earth terrain though.

Name: All Terrain Vehicle

Set Number: 42139

Pieces: 764

Price: $79.99

Minifigs: 0

Theme: Technic

 

The Box Front

At first glance (especially if you don't look at the set name) it looks like a squashed truck. I think, after looking at actual ATVs, that the problem is the black handlebars being too low and blending into the black seat, black bed, and dark background. Compare the set to a real 6-wheel ATV that's currently on the market - the handlebars are FAR higher in the air. Also, from what I found, virtually all the 6-wheel ATVs are dark green/dark tan/black. They're primarily intended as working vehicles, so they stick to serious, dark colors. The ATVs that are in bright red/orange/white/blue are sportier, 4-wheel recreational vehicles. So given that, I'd rather see this set in dark colors rather than orange with aggressive stickers. 

The Box Back

Since there's no B-model, the entire back is showing the functions. There's going to be some suspension, a 2-cylinder engine, a gear shift, and a tipping bed. The main photo though is just slightly a different angle from the front photo. Why not give us a new view? Is the other side weirdly ugly for some reason? (hint - nope. It's almost identical)

 

The Contents

The bags are for 3 numbered steps, plus an un-numbered back with wheels and tires. Like so many Technic sets lately, there is a very busy sticker sheet. It looks like a lot of the color in the set (what little there is) will be from stickers! There are only 13 orange beams or panels in the set. 

 

The Sticker Sheet

Here's a closeup of the stickers. Clearly, lots of panel #21 and #22 are getting stickered in this set! Overall, the vibe seems to work for an ATV. 

 

The Build, Part 1

Bag 1 builds the core of the mechanisms. As is typical for Technic sets, this is a very solid block of parts to provide strength for the rest of the vehicle and the gear mechanisms. 

 

The Build, Explained

Here's the functionality collapsed into this block of parts:

1. Knob on side of ATV for manually controlling the winch
2. Pair of bevel gears to route the rotation to the front of the vehicle
3. The red bush acts as a stop to keep the winch from unwinding on its own
4. This red ball is a handle you can press to pull the red bush away and let the winch extend
5. Another set of bevel gears to change the winch control direction again
6. There's a connection down this hole for the steering. Eventually the handlebars will attach here
7. The steering routes through the middle, pushes the front dark blue grey beam side to side, and that causes these axles on the ends to steer the wheels. It's a classic Technic steering mechanism, using the "Pin Connector Perpendicular 3L with 4 Pins" with an axle through it
8. This is the gear selector, to change the speed of the piston above when the vehicle is rolled along
9. This frictionless pin is a connection for the suspension that's still to be added

 

The Build, Errors in the Instructions!

It's nice when Lego instructs you how to test what you've built to make sure things are working before you get them too buried to easily fix. However, look at steps 18 and 19 here. If you have built it as shown (with the dark grey driving ring centered) then turning the orange connector in step 19 will NOT make the pistons move! You have to push the driving ring to one end or the other to make them move.

 

The Build, More Instruction Interestingness

A few pages later, you'll find this diagram. Why do they show the driving ring just slightly off-center, so NOT engaged either end still, but also not centered correctly? They're very consistent - the red shift selector is angled in both the blown-up diagram and in the instructions off to the left - but it's still an odd position. But it's even slightly angled in the assembly steps above - step 7 in the yellow box! (While we're on the topic, anyone know why the red selector part is designed the way it is? The axle hole isn't quite deep enough, so when you insert something like the grey axle with ball, it doesn't go flush like it would in other parts. Why not make the selector a hair longer? I'm guessing that in some designs it'd hit something if it was longer, but I'm not sure)

 

The Build, Part 2

Back to building... Both rear axles are connected together with mini turntables, so they can pivot. There are shocks on both sides to keep them centered normally (ditto for the front axle). It's not independent suspension, but it works for this scale vehicle. The base for the tipping bed is also in place. There's a small lever on the other side that twists the red liftarm in the center. A very direct and simple mechanism, but it works and adds a function to the set. 

 

The Underside

Here's a better shot of the pivoting axles, if you're not familiar with this style of Technic construction. Each of the rear axles uses a 5x7 frame to hold a differential. There are axles going lengthwise connecting them through the center of the mini turntables. This takes the rotation of the 4 rear wheels forward, through the central gearbox (the red and blue gears with the grey driving ring between them) and then up to the piston engine. 

 

The Finished ATV

Here's the finished set, and from the opposite side than the box. The only real different on the sides is that this one has the winch knob and the other has the winch release and the gear selector. 

 

The Front

Lots of headlights. And unfortunately, they look bad. Why on earth do they insist on using the blue pins to mount these clear pieces? Lego, you make those pins in light grey. That'd look a TON better. Or even better - do what you did just on the center-most lights and put a white stud behind them! It'd make them pop against the mostly black front end. Instead, they're almost invisible, which is better than when you notice the blue pins. 

While we're here, let me point out one more ugly bit. Look way at the back - see the red piece? Not the red tube below the orange beam; that's the lever to tip the bed. I'm talking about the red axlepin sticking out the side of the black bed. There's one on each side, and they visually stick out so much. Now, scroll back up to the start of the review and look at the box photo. NO RED AXLE! It's black in the photo! So even Lego knew it looked bad, but decided (probably late in the design process, after marketing had taken their glamour photos), to use red pins. My guess is that originally they used the black "Axle 2L with pin" to go all the way into the bed of the ATV, but since it doesn't actually then click into the vertical side, they switched to the red "Axle 1L with Pin 2L" for a slightly more solid connection. It's also possible that they looked at photos of ATVs and saw that some have a red reflector on the side of the bed and used that to "justify" the color. But I'm not a fan. 

 

The Suspension

The ATV has pendular suspension on all three axles - and 6 shock absorbers. Overall, it's a pretty stiff suspension. As you can see here, it's too stiff for the lightweight vehicle and so the back wheel doesn't touch the ground when there's something under the middle axle. However, the design of the suspension is pretty good and it's certainly something kids can learn from. 

Being pendular, the ATV can rock side to side but it cannot push straight down, like a vehicle with independent suspensions could:

The steering works, but there's not much range of motion. Thanks to using a pair of knob gears, it also has quite a bit of delay and slop. However, like the suspension, the idea is there and pretty well done for the size:

 

The Chainsaw

Usually, ATVs in Lego are side builds as part of a bigger set. Here, the ATV is the big set and it comes with a chainsaw (and logs) as sidebuilds. The chainsaw is pretty small, but it's recognizable even without the blatant CHAINSAW stickers. However, I can't help but feel that the chainsaw and logs are filler. They're about 10% of the part count! There are 20 brown 2x2 rounds to make the logs, and the chainsaw itself is about 50 pieces. Almost half of those are the chain links. 

 

The Ratings

Design: 6 - it's recognizable and overall looks ok, but there's a few misses (handlebars, blue headlights, red pins). For kids though, they'll be fine with it. I try to remind myself that this is a 10+ set, not an 18+, but on the other hand, these are so simple to do better.

Build Experience: 8 - it's easy enough for kids, but not repetitive or boring

Features: 7 - what it has works well, but some are just "why" - like why have the gear shift? It's a mostly useless feature in most Technic vehicles, and here, it's just a 2 cylinder engine with little difference between the two gears

Playability: 9 - It's swooshable, sturdy, and works well. The chainsaw and logs may be filler-ish, but they do add playability to the set. However, is this something a kid would want to play with vs the usual crane / racecar / etc? I'm assuming that Lego's research says yes, and they've certainly made enough unusual vehicles over the years (hovercrafts, etc) to have some experience behind it

Parts/Value: 9 - I originally rated this lower, since it has nothing new, but then I reconsidered. This is a GREAT parts pack or intro set to someone new to Technic. There's 6 wheels, 6 shocks!, lots of panels, and plenty of other assorted parts including a bit of chain. It's a solid parts pack for making your own vehicles, and it's a good primer on building with suspension, steering, differentials, etc. 

Overall: 7 - It's something Lego hasn't done in Technic before, and it's done mostly well. The flaws are mostly minor and common to a wide variety of Technic sets. I compromised on the rating - for experienced Technic builders, I'd rate it lower. For younger people or anyone newer to Technic, I'd rate it higher. 

[whitepen]

A great review for a great set! I will definitely be picking this up!

[1gor]

Agree both on review and set opinion by @whitepen, I can only repeat myself and wrote again that this is the best 1h set IMHO

Only little comment; on my Android mobile phone images in tho original post are disproportioned so I need to tap them to see it correctly

[whitepen]

2 minutes ago, 1gor said:

Agree both on review and set opinion by @whitepen, I can only repeat myself and wrote again that this is the best 1h set IMHO

Only little comment; on my Android mobile phone images in tho original post are disproportioned so I need to tap them to see it correctly

It's like that on my Kindle too!

[1gor]

Just now, whitepen said:

It's like that on my Kindle too!

It seems that images are optimized for PC platform and not mobile devices...

[whitepen]

1 minute ago, 1gor said:

It seems that images are optimized for PC platform and not mobile devices...

That is why i normally browse eurobricks on my laptop!

[1gor]

3 minutes ago, whitepen said:

That is why i normally browse eurobricks on my laptop!

I use mobile phone since my youngest pet likes to jump on equipment...when I was working online he jump on laptop exactly on power button 

[whitepen]

1 minute ago, 1gor said:

I use mobile phone since my youngest pet likes to jump on equipment...when I was working online he jump on laptop exactly on power button 

Haha! Let's try not to derail the topic!

[1gor]

Just now, whitepen said:

Haha! Let's try not to derail the topic!

I agree 

[Jim]

40 minutes ago, 1gor said:

It seems that images are optimized for PC platform and not mobile devices...

The problem is because of using fixed width and height in the image tag. Responsiveness causes the image to shrink within the container but the height is not restricted, so the image is stretched. I have removed the height and width from the first image. You will probably see a decent image now.

I have explained it to @mostlytechnic. 

More on topic; this sure is one cool vehicle. Packed with cool stuff, no license, reasonable price. Thumbs up.

[R0Sch]

Thanks for the amazing review. It's definitely my top set for this year. Can't wait to get it at the usual discount rate.

I wonder if similar to the pins the axles will get color locked as well? 5L axles only in yellow, 6L only red, etc. Just a few days ago I built The Batmobile Technic set and was really annoyed by the use of yellow 5L axles and red 2L ones in visible areas when they could have easily used the lbg and black ones instead, which are still in production.

Edited February 26, 2022 by R0Sch

[1gor]

Yes @Jim it looks like perfect MOC. TLC made real jewel this time I must admit 

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Very nice set!

[Mr Ogel]

At first I also liked the set - then I saw the price and compared it to another model of the last years with the same price. This was 42095 with two motors, yes with less pieces but motorized. So for me it is not worth it anymore.

Edited February 27, 2022 by Mr Ogel

[GerritvdG]

Thanks for the review, I like the functions and goodthat they also added the gear-shift, I thinks it's a nice educational feature.

Agreed with the 6 for the design, apart from what have been said I don't like the busy stickers. 

[Paul B Technic]

An excellent review of an excellent set, this set was what has got me back in to Technic after a couple of years away.

[Phil54]

Very late on the scene, but only just obtained the set. I can’t find all the cogs needed from bag no. 1 for the first stage build. Is this normal? I don’t have the rest of the bags with me as I’m out babysitting and thought I’d just kick off with bag one. Very frustrated. 

[howitzer]

2 hours ago, Phil54 said:

Very late on the scene, but only just obtained the set. I can’t find all the cogs needed from bag no. 1 for the first stage build. Is this normal? I don’t have the rest of the bags with me as I’m out babysitting and thought I’d just kick off with bag one. Very frustrated. 

If you look at the review photos, you'll notice there's two bags numbered 1 in the set, which means you'll need both to finish phase 1 of the build.

[Jim]

7 hours ago, howitzer said:

If you look at the review photos, you'll notice there's two bags numbered 1 in the set, which means you'll need both to finish phase 1 of the build.

Yup!

There can (and will) be more bags for a single stage. You can indeed check the review pics to verify.

[Phil54]

Doh. Simplicity itself. Thanks for the response. I hope this doesn’t mean 70 yrs young is too old to recover technic Lego capability😬

[Jim]

2 hours ago, Phil54 said:

Doh. Simplicity itself. Thanks for the response. I hope this doesn’t mean 70 yrs young is too old to recover technic Lego capability😬

You will get all the help you need here