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Saturday, January 12, 2008

Stroller

We wanted to shout out a thank you to grandpa Wiseman...

Last weekend grandpa Wiseman (Roy) treated us and baby Wiseman to a brand new stroller.  I have to say I can't wait till the little one is out so I can go for nice walks with him and his new "Cadillac".  Yes for all of those who want to laugh at us we chose a Bugaboo.  However we had our reasons:
  • Had to have adjustable arm in length that could accommodate both comfortable myself (5'-5") and Geoff (6'-1").  Honestly there are only a few out there that met this first requirement: Bugaboo Cameleon; Stokke; Quinny Buzz (just barely); Mutsy; Stroll-Air
  • Weight of the stroller when folded.  I.E. I needed to be able to lift it comfortably into the trunk of my car.  This gave a strike against the Mutsy, the Quinny and the Stroll-Air.  However the Quinny was just on the line of tolerable.
  • Ease of use.  We played with all of these over and over in the stores.  the Quinny and Bugaboo kept on coming up at the top for the easiest to fold and open.  The Mutsy we had to fight with each time and the Stokke we eventually got the hang of it after going to 4 different stores and finally finding a sales clerk that knew how to operate the stroller.
  • How each of the strollers felt to us when we walked around with them.  Geoff really seemed to prefer the Stokke and I preferred the Bugaboo. For both of us it had to do with the handle.
  • We looked at the price however by this time we had already decided against the Mutsy one of the lower cost options.  The remaining 3 options ranked in price as follows the Quinny (+/- $700); Bugaboo (+/- $1100); Stokke (+/- $1200).
  • Then I wanted to look at the widest span of the stroller because I know it can get complicated trying to get a stroller onto the TTC in Toronto. The narrowest Stroller was the Bugaboo, followed closely by the Stokke and then the Quinny was probably a good 6" wider at the wheel span.
  • The I looked at what came with the stroller and what was available as an add-on.  For the all inclusive package the Stokke definitely wins, it came with almost everything including a stroller umbrella/parasol.  The Quinny followed after however the bassinet is a separate purchase and the amount of verity in the accessories that you can purchase after the fact are limited.  Including the fact that until this month you could not get an infant car seat that was compatible with the stroller.  The Bugaboo came in last for all inclusive however it definitely leaves everyone else in the dust with the after-market add ones you can get.  The only ones we are planning on getting for our Bugaboo are the cup holder, diaper bag and travel case.
  • The designer in me had to look at the style and colours available, however at this point all 3 strollers left in the running were all great looking and very hip :-)
All in all: 
  • The Mutsy got eliminated due to the weight and not user friendly
  • The Quinny got eliminated due to the wheel base width
  • The Stokke we flip flopped back and forth to this one but at the end it got eliminated because it just was not as user friendly, it felt odd to push around (at least for me) and it was more costly
Oh, for those of you that are wondering what our final choice was from Bugaboo: The Cameleon with a dark grey base and red canvas tailored fabrics.

8 comments:

hilary said...

Hi Pierrette,

I am emailing to tell you that Mutsy is coming out with a great, lighterweight stroller model, the Slider this Spring. Slider will have the stylish look Mutsy is known for and offer lots of features. If you would like information on the stroller please let me know.

Hilary

Geoffrey Wiseman said...

Already in possession of a Bug Cameleon. Slider looks decent from the YouTube video, would have been curious to give it a look-see if it had been out on time.

Pierrette said...

Thanks for the info. Sounds interesting too bad it did not come out a month ago as grandpa bought us our stroller already.

Anonymous said...

How could you think the Bugaboo is more "user" friendly than the Mutsy? The Mutsy folds with the chair in it and it's so much easier to pop out than the Bugaboo. My brother purchased the Bugaboo and took it back after his wife cut her foot trying to pop the base open. Plus the thing is so expensive. I think the only reason people buy the Bugaboo is because the celebrities use it. The Mutsy is so much cuter than the Bugaboo. My brother got the Ocean Blue College color with racing stripes (boy) and they get so many compliments on it. It's my new favorite - after loving the Bugaboo for a long time. Also, the Orbit is really nice, but looks a little clunky - I think the Orbit is the new favorite of the celebrities.

Geoffrey Wiseman said...

Well, I guess different users have different user friendliness results. ;)

The Mutsy that we tried (I don't know that we ever had a clear model name on which one) we found very difficult to collapse. It may well be something you get used to, but it was one of the more frustrating strollers we'd tried to make work. Whereas the Bug, as a general rule, I find pretty easy to collapse and open (although I do occasionally have issues opening it).

It is more expensive than I'd like, but it was really the only one of two (it and the Stokke) that really seemed to work for us, and the Stokke's more expensive.

I haven't seen the Orbit; curious.

Anonymous said...

Here's the website for Orbit: http://www.orbitbaby.com. Pretty cool and unique stroller with lots of options.

Now that you have the Bugaboo and are using it regularly, what is you opinion on it? Honest opinion.

Pierrette said...

So far so good with the Bug. We had about 2 weeks of snow in the March and as long as you put the big wheels in front it you have no issues. As for how often we use it that depends on were I am going. If we are taking the ttc and I am solo I don't bother I just bring him in a carrier (usually the heart 2 heart sling). If I am going for long walks I love it, lots of cargo space and it very light so going up hill is not a battle. A down side of light is that if you are caught in a huge wind storm (only happened once) you feel like the wind is going to steel your baby from you. If we are going by car it's a bit bulkier then I though it was going to be; but because it is light I can lift it in the trunk while I have the little one in a sling witch is nice.

We have bought tones of accessories since we have it, the sun shade and sun canopy. I love the sun canopy the sun shade is a pain in the but I wish I would have gotten the umbrella instead. I have the cup holder, it sticks out on the side so I then to get it stuck in everything but I think that might be the same with many strollers. We also bought the travel case, I love this for flying the first time I took the bug apart to place it in the case it took me 3 hours however the second time only took 5 mins (some learning curve).

So would I recommend it to someone yes, but would I say it's the perfect stroller no. But I am not sure the perfect stroller exist.

Pierrette said...

re the orbit

I saw that one in one of the blog I read when it was launched; I am not sure you can buy it in Canada yet. It seems like one that I would have looked at when we were shopping around but it was not launched yet I think at that point.

re opening the bug

My husband and most first time users of our bug have an issue with it sometimes but I can get open each time no problem now. It probably took me about 2 months to get there; but even then it was only one out of many each 6 or 7 times I struggled. Now I find it crazy easy to open and close.