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Pushchairs

If not an Uppababy then... ? What's your favourite ever buggy?!

42 replies

Turry · 09/03/2013 16:14

Having spent hours, days and weeks obsessing about finding a buggy with a high up seat (like an Xplory, but better reviewed) I landed on Uppababy. Went to buy one from local shop today only to find the difference in seat height between either the Vista or the Cruz and many other pushchairs really isn't earth shattering...

I still liked them for other reasons of look, colour etc so not writing them off, but before just taking the plunge I just thought I should first ask you knowledgeable lot! What do you recommend?! My spec's not too demanding I don't think:

  • Baby 6 months old
  • Needs to have parent-facing option


Thassit! Please help me see the wood for the trees!
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Snowgirl1 · 09/03/2013 16:27

We went for Joolz DAY - it has a high up seat and the added advantage that the handle bar goes up higher than any other buggy that we could find (important to us as DH is 6' 4"). Really like it - very smooth ride for DD.

We bought a McLaren for a holiday and people kept telling us we wouldn't go back to the Joolz once we'd got used to the convenience of a collapsible buggy. Hated the McLaren and will only use it when we have to fly somewhere.

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Turry · 09/03/2013 16:42

Thanks snowgirl! I had thought about it before but the Which review said

"the seat recline is tricky to control, it's slightly awkward to fold, too bulky for buses and the storage basket is small."

Would you say any of that's true? Thanks again!

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FoofFighter · 09/03/2013 16:43

Fave evers were BJCM and Bug Cam. Totally awesome pushchairs.

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FoofFighter · 09/03/2013 16:44

ok read more than just the title now! BJCM doesn't rear face although you can get a carrycot and a carseat on it.

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Turry · 09/03/2013 16:56

Thanks Foof! Shall have a look at the Bug Cam...

Snowgirl, or anyone else who knows, are the Mama and Papas Joolz and the Joolz you mention the same thing?!

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Snowgirl1 · 09/03/2013 19:21

I'd certainly agree with Which that the storage basket is small. I sorted that by buying the optional shopping net (it has to be said that the Uppa has a really easy access shopping basket). I've never been on a bus with it, so can't comment on that (although a friend with an Uppa couldn't get on through the front doors with her Uppa and had to get on via the rear doors, so this might be common to the non-collapsible type of pushchairs). Don't agree with the other comments in the Which review. I've got friends with the Uppa and I wouldn't say that that Joolz is any more bulky than the Uppa.

I remember seeing the Mama & Papas Joolz on-line when buying ours - but I don't think they actually sell it anymore.

I have friends with a Bugaboo and can remember thinking "I'm really glad I didn't go for a Bugaboo" although, rather unhelpfully, I can't remember why. I'd go for an Uppa over the Bugaboo.

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RooneyMara · 09/03/2013 19:34

M&P make trendy but not high end buggies so best avoided I think - lots of problems with quality in their pushchair history.

The Joolz is not their one - it's a totally different brand I think. It does look nice and high up from what I've seen online and in RL.

I have the BJ Versa and that's nice and high too - well compared to a lot I've had before. Worth a look.

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RooneyMara · 09/03/2013 19:43

crikey - looked on google and it seems to be very similar! I may be wrong then, I usually am Smile

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poodletip · 09/03/2013 19:49

After nearly 10 years Shock of being a buggy user I have settled on, and am happy with, a Mountain Buggy urban that gets used mostly for walking out from the house on school runs, dog walks and local trips to shops and vets and whatever (i.e. quite a lot of use). In the car I have a Maclaren Techno XT that gets used basically everywhere we go out and about shopping, children's activities and suchlike. If we go in the car for a walk or something we do take the MB. The only thing is that neither are parent facing which I would prefer but have never come across a parent facing buggy that I like as much so we do without.

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RooneyMara · 09/03/2013 19:53

'For the last three years, Dutch company Joolz has sold its Day pushchair through Mamas & Papas shops. Now Joolz is going it alone, selling only through independent stores, with the tagline ?Dutch Ergonomicz?. '

aha.

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Turry · 10/03/2013 08:49

Aha indeed! Thanks Rooney! There seem to be a lot of second hand ones on the market, so now trying to work out how you actually tell the difference by looking at the things! Or perhaps I should just ask the sellers! Or perhaps they're just as good as one another? Agh, who knows - all this complexity is enough to send me running back to sling wearers' land! (Though not before a trip to Milton Keynes today to check out the Joolz in person!)

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RooneyMara · 10/03/2013 09:32

I think that they will all be as good. M&P just had the franchise as I understand it, for a few years - then Joolz realised they could do it on their own.

It'sthe same product. A lot of M&P's 'own' stuff seems to be a bit hit and miss, like the Sola (unless that's made by someone else?!)

I wouldn't worry about the Joolz. Good luck Smile

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RooneyMara · 10/03/2013 09:33

Fwiw - Poodle - I always think of the MB first when someone asks about my all time favourite. It's genuinely one of the best I've had in 10 years and about 60 pushchairs. But no, it doesn't parent face which is a shame.

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Tiggywunkle · 10/03/2013 13:18

The M&P Joolz / Joolz Day is essentially the same pushchair. M&P made it for some time and Joolz took the rights back (or something similar) and are making it as the Joolz Day now. There are minor differences - I have studied them in the past and concluded there wasn't enough to really quibble over. The main one seems to be that the Joolz Day seems to be lighter than the really heavy M&P one.
If you look at the side of the chassis a Joolz Day has "Joolz" written around the top of the joint where the handle extends. The M&P ones have Mamas and Papas written down the side. I might be wrong but I think black ones are Joolz Day ones too. I have seen some M&P ones without writing down the sides too.
I know a couple of MN here love their Joolz Day pushchairs, and it is beautiful to push. However I see it as a "walking" pushchair - one to walk out of the house with. To put it in your car, compared to other pushchairs, I find it big, heavy and bulky TBH. But the seat is enormous - the footrest extends. I find the basket hard to get into and tiny. But the big shopping basket is good.

Anyway to answer the OP question.
Pushchairs go into categories for me and "buggy" is a lightweight stroller, usually FF, and often umbrella fold. Wording I know is subjective and I am guessing because you want PF you mean a "pushchair" ie a good strong, nice-ish quality chassis with a seat which goes both ways (usually on a frame).
The reason I distinquish is to try and compare like for like IYKWIM ie a City Mini is excellent, but not in this group. The Joolz Day, Vista, Cruz and Xplory for me fit into that pushchair category for me.

So, on that basis, the one pushchair I come back to time and time again for easy of use, and yet looks great, is the iCandy Peach. It ticks every box I have - large, comfy seat, easy to fold, small folded, large basket, gorgeous to push etc etc. plus it can become probably the best tandem there is for two little ones. The downside is the raincover, but there's plenty of alternatives out there.

The other pushchair I really like and I think is good value for money, is the Baby Jogger Versa. The spec is really good and you get a lot for your money, plus a lovely pushchair to use and push.

They both work really very well. I think if you dont have the money for the Peach, then the Cherry is an excellent alternative too.

I always say the Vista is probably the best spec pushchair on the market, but I just dont warm to the more angular shapes and I find it large when folded. It took up a lot of my floor space and we didn't have room to keep it.

The Bugaboo Buffalo really excites me though. I like Bugaboo's a lot, but each pushchairs has its strengths but also its weaknesses. On paper, the Buffalo seems to take all the strengths and has removed or ironed out the weaknesses. I think it should be pretty perfect as a pushchair goes! I think the Cameleon, Donkey and Bee are all excellent in their own ways, but all have downsides. But I have / have owned all, and would have them again in the right circumstances.

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Turry · 10/03/2013 20:21

Thanks guys, turns out I didn't like the look of the Joolz in person, so that's that off the list!

Tiggywunkle, I don't suppose you happen to know how the Peach seat height compares to the Vista? (continues to obsess about baby not being too low to the ground)

I've just found a second hand iCandy Peach jogger for £360... worth it do you think? But not sure I need a jogger... Anyway, there seem to be much more Peaches on the second hand market than Vistas (probably not least as I've only been considering 2012 Vistas) so maybe I should give them a look... Any clues as to what to look out for/ are there particular sub-models/ editions that are good/ bad etc?

PS, the use of 'buggy' totally affected by me - I've called everything 'pushchair' until recently but everyone around me seems to say 'buggy', so I'm just copying them!

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Ihateparties · 10/03/2013 20:53

From memory the seat height on the peach is average. I don't really want to admit it but i saw a stokke crusi irl for the first time yesterday and i really rather like it. As long as you never consider using it as a tandem as a single it looked rather large but a nice alterative to the xplory. It might be a bit breaky though :-(

I love my imported brio smile, which is not identical to but a relative of the vista. The seat seems high to me at 60cm from the ground to the seatbase. I like the vista in theory but it's just too wide. Have you seen a jane rider or trider, I sort of feel those have highish seats but perhaps its perception and they're pretty average.

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Tiggywunkle · 10/03/2013 23:22

I dont know how the Peach seat compares to the Vista, however (and I was thinking of you!) I measured the difference between my Xplory and the Peach seat and it is about 7 inches - very roughly because I couldnt get the two near enough together which is less than my handspan. However the Xplory seat extends a good deal higher, because the hood is fixed, whereas the Peach hood slides up the chassis. I did take you some photos, but I haven't had two secs to do anything with them yet.

There is currently only one Peach Jogger. New colours are on the way, but not yet. Its a gorgeous pushchair.
As for the Peach - yes, this is where to look out. Buy as new as you can get. The latest ones are the new colours eg black, silvermint, violet and berry bon bon. The grey/brown, red and sweetpea (blue / lime) are the old colours. But even those, the older ones have no windows in the hoods, longer harnesses etc. I wouldnt buy an early one.
Both Peach and Peach Jogger are fab to use. Buy the Peach if you shop as the swivel wheels are more nippy. Buy the Jogger if you walk more as the push is dreamy.

Honestly dont worry about the child being too low to the ground in the Peach (or any other pushchair). The Crusi is nicer than the Xplory - but I think all the ones I know of (about 8) have all one by one broken. I wouldn't be touching one with a barge pole right now....

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Turry · 11/03/2013 16:45

Thanks again Tiggy. Was just about to get the jogger secondhand (on the basis I'd quite like to start running again so good I could with that) but then I realised I already have a pushchair I can jog with (or at least I think I do - Britax Vigour 3+) and so now I have yet ANOTHER idea...

Having seen the Bugaboo Bee breezy shade I think that has potential to be perfect for what I want (we're going to be in a hot country for the next year)... So maybe the Bugaboo it is... ?

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LazyMachine · 11/03/2013 17:18

I originally thought we'd get the Stokke for similar reasons thy yoi've listed, OP, but every time we tried one out we began to like it less and less. After lots of research, we bought the 2012 Vista as it satisfied our needs (and I loved the way it looked! Blush )

We're really happy with the Vista. The fold is easy breezy (even when I was 2 weeks post c-section) and I, too, appreciate the seat height as it's better for my back and it feels as though DC is closer up towards me. It even fits into the boot of our little Polo (just pop one of the back wheels off - takes mere seconds).

Go for the Vista!

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LazyMachine · 11/03/2013 17:21

that you've listed (not whatever weird Ye Olde Worlde speak that just came out of my phone!)

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Turry · 11/03/2013 17:37

Thanks Lazy! Have you had much use out of the sun shieldy bit? Having been one of the biggest initial draws it's now putting me off as I just can't imagine either DD or I being happy with her being so closed off and unable to see?

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LazyMachine · 11/03/2013 17:49

We actually used it for the first time last week and it was brilliant! No faffing about with some silly umbrella that constantly needs to be readjusted. And it must've felt cosy inside because DS immediately dropped off for a nap. Grin

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LazyMachine · 11/03/2013 17:53

Also, the sun visor on the bassinet has mesh panels on the sides, so you can easily see inside to check on your infant in case you're a slightly obsessive new mum like me who needs to check every ten minutes to make sure the baby is still breathing!

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rootypig · 11/03/2013 18:43

Turry I have the Bee and I like it, but it is very low down. oddly so. and I am short. the breezy shade does look good though Grin

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bluer · 11/03/2013 21:21

Don't know if money is a consideration but I just ordered the vista with carrycot, buggy and a maxi cosi cabrio for 545...kiddisave...the package was 650, got ten percent off for liking on fb and further 7 percent from quidco. Free delivery too...we're thrilled as we loved it but initially discredited it as too pricey.

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