Baby Jogger City Tour 2 Double review

Tested by: Liz, mum of two

Pros

• Lightweight

• Comfortable carrycot

• Slim enough to go through you front door

• Compact fold for easy storage

Cons

• Wheels are small and don’t cope well with rough terrain

• Fold not user-friendly

• Doesn’t come with a rain cover

Key specs

• Age range: Newborn up to around four

• Maximum load: 15kg in each seat

• Product weight: 10.5kg

• Dimensions: 63 × 66.5 × 25cm (folded); 94.5 × 66.5 × 102.5cm (unfolded)

• Seat: 41.9 × 25.4cm

• Travel system-compatible: No

• Orientation: Side by side

• Warranty: Lifetime (frame)

• Accessories: Carrycot (£110-£130), cup holder (£19), belly bar (£24) and rain cover (£29)

• RRP: £459

What's the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 Double like to purchase and assemble?

Baby Jogger first started making jogging strollers back in 1984 and went on to develop a double version too. The company now makes buggies that cater to different lifestyles. The Baby Jogger City Tour 2 Double is the double version of the popular City Tour 2 and it’s their most compact side-by-side double pushchair.

You can buy it from Boots, Amazon and Winstanleys Pramworld, as well as other smaller stores. The Baby Jogger website provides a list of local retailers and the accessories you can purchase, such as a cup holder, belly bar and carrycot. If you need replacement parts, you can use the 'contact us' section to get in touch with the customer service team.

It took us just less than 10 minutes to assemble the City Tour 2 Double, which involved opening the frame, attaching the four wheels and apron, and adjusting the straps and hood. We also tested the carrycot.

What’s in the box?

The box comes with a chassis, four wheels, two seats and a storage basket. Unfortunately, the City Tour 2 Double doesn’t include a rain cover, so you'll have to shell out an extra £29 for this.

While the seats are suitable from newborn, you can also attach up to two carrycots. We used one for our tester’s youngest (four months), and the carrycot pack came with a frame, mattress, hood and apron.

What about the instructions?

The manual has clear diagrams and written instructions showing you how to assemble the City Tour 2 Double and make use of its features.

There’s also safety warnings, care and maintenance instructions, and warranty information. Baby Jogger offers a lifetime warranty on the frame for manufacturing defects and a year from purchase for materials and all other components.

We couldn’t find a digital copy of the instructions on the UK Baby Jogger website (just a list of FAQs), but we did find one on the US site. If you want to see how the pram works, there's also a demo video on the Baby Jogger YouTube channel.

How safe is the Baby Jogger City Mini Tour 2 Double?

Baby Jogger is known for making prams for an active lifestyle and, while this is their most compact design and geared more towards city life, it’s still very sturdy for two growing children.

Made to meet European safety standards, the pram can take two children weighing up to 15kg each. The seats lie almost flat for newborns and are safely secured with a clamp at the back.

The bassinet attaches to the pram with connecters and has been approved for overnight sleeping when removed from the frame. It also comes with a mattress cover.

What about the harness?

The Baby Jogger City Tour 2 Double comes with a five-point safety harness. The waist and shoulders straps stay clipped together so it only takes two clicks to strap your child in and one press of a button to release.

The straps were sturdy and padded enough to snugly fit our tester’s pre-schooler, but they can also be altered for younger babies. You have to go through the backrest to alter the shoulder straps.

How stable is the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 Double?

One of the buggy’s biggest selling points is how light and compact it is – especially for a double buggy. Weighing just 10.5kg, it is almost 3kg lighter than the Chicco Echo Twin Stroller yet doesn’t compromise on safety or stability.

The materials are good quality and the City Tour 2 Double boasts a robust metal chassis with sturdy plastic components that feel strong enough to hold two toddlers.

We tested the buggy with a baby in the carrycot and a four-year-old (who was already over the weight limit at the time of testing) in the main seat and then used a heavy bag to see how it would cope with the weight of two toddlers.

As the pram is suitable for newborns and can hold up to two carrycots, we also tested it with two large bags of sugar in place of a second baby. The weight was evenly distributed across the buggy, even with a changing bag hanging on the handlebar.

What about the brakes?

The footbrake is easy to use – you push the brake lever down with the bottom of your foot and off with the top – and comfortable to operate in all footwear.

Liz never had any concerns when using the brake and the buggy felt secure when on hills.

What’s the Baby Jogger City Mini 2 Double like in day-to-day use?

The Baby Jogger City Mini 2 Double is perfect for getting around town with two young children and, measuring a slimline 66.5cm wide, will fit through most doorways.

Our tester used it to take her daughter to nursery, to go to a café and on dog walks. She loved that she could strap her children into the buggy inside her house, which wasn’t possible with all of the prams she tested.

The lightweight frame and compact design means it's about the width of a single buggy so can be used on public transport.

What about the seats?

The buggy comes with two forward-facing seats that can be used for twins or children of different ages.

Each seat comes with an individual adjustable calf support and infinite recline to allow both children to relax whenever they need to. The seats are adjusted by pinching the clamp behind the backrest and sliding it down one-handed. It goes up and down smoothly so won't disturb napping children.

The 15kg maximum limit will last families up to three or four years, but the seats are also deep enough to accommodate taller children. Our tester's eldest particularly liked the adjustable calf rest.

Liz found the bassinet easy to attach to the pram with the two connectors, which are fitted to either side of the frame. She loved how cosy her four-month-old was in the parent-facing carrycot and the padded handles made it comfortable for her to lift it on and off the frame when needed.

Both the pram and seats come with a UV50+ canopy to prevent any arguments between children. They are extendable, giving decent coverage, and come with pop-out sun visors for extra protection as well a mesh peek-a-boo windows.

Is there a rain cover?

Unfortunately, the pram doesn’t come with a rain cover and we didn’t receive one for testing. The Baby Jogger website gives stockist information about where you can purchase the rain cover, which costs £29 and fits over both seats.

How easy is the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 Double to push?

The four rubber composite wheels are ideal for pavement or smooth urban terrain, but aren't made for off-roading. They are smaller than those on the iCandy Peach 6 and the Thule Urban Glide 2 Double so they struggled on rougher terrain such as marshland, uneven ground and long grass. There isn't much clearance between the front wheels and the bracket so mud and leaves got stuck easily.

Liz found the steering troublesome, having to put a fair amount of force into pushing the Baby Jogger compared to other prams she tested. It feels light on smooth ground and will go up and down kerbs easily, but can't easily be pushed one-handed. Although the front wheels do swivel, Liz found the buggy heavy to turn and steer. The wheels can be locked to help the buggy tackle rougher terrain though.

The handlebar can't be extended, but our tester and her partner (6 ft 3) were still able to walk comfortably.

How easy is it to fold and how heavy is it?

Being so slimline, the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 Double has a really compact Z-shape fold, however our tester wasn’t all that impressed.

She found it difficult to engage the auto lock and, as it only locks the frame (not the handlebar), the handlebar occasionally hit her legs. A clasp for the handlebar would have prevented this.

Otherwise, the fold is quick and smooth once you get the hang of it. To unfold, you unclip the lock and lift up the handlebar. When folded, the buggy is freestanding.

The City Tour 2 Double is light compared to the other double buggies, such as the Thule Urban Glide 2 Double (15.5kg), and can be carried using the frame or seat straps. When unfolded, Liz could just about manage to carry it up and down stairs with the carrycot attached.

The buggy fit into our tester's medium hatchback with room for a shopping bag and her dog. When not in use, the carrycot can be folded down for easy storage.

How big is the storage basket?

The City Tour 2 Double can hold up to 5kg of storage, which is adequate enough for a day out with two children – fitting a bag of shopping, rain cover and changing bag. The basket, with mesh sides, is located under the pram’s seats.

For days when you’re laden down with bags and need to free up some basket space, we found the pram nice and steady with a changing bag on the handlebar. However, this won't work when the seats are reclined.

Is the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 Double easy to clean?

The Baby Jogger is made from strong yet lightweight fabrics, which can be detached from the frame for machine-washing.

The seat fabric can be washed in cold water on a delicate cycle and attached back on to the chassis to dry. This is great to know if you go on a very muddy walk or there’s a big spillage, but our tester found the pram cleaned up just as well when handwashed.

Removing the seat covers was time-consuming and fiddly, but when juice was spilled during testing, it beaded up well and easily wiped away with a damp cloth. Liz found that mud on the frame and seat was just as easy to clean off. The carrycot and mattress covers can also be removed for machine washing.

By the end of the week-long testing period, there were no stains left behind and the frame looked as good as new, but the wheels were a bit pitted. We’re not sure if they would last the four years they'd need to.

What's it like to look at?

The Baby Jogger City Tour 2 Double isn't going to turn heads, but it’s a practical double buggy for parents who want to get around easily.

We tested the carbon colourway, a dark grey fabric with a black frame, but you can also purchase the buggy in seacrest, carbon and jet black. You'll find stitching on the seats to make the seats look smarter.

Our tester wasn’t keen on the small wheels, but this is one of the things that makes the pram so compact.

Is the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 Double good value for money?

Costing £459, the City Tour 2 Double is at the cheaper end of the market, however the downside is that you have to pay extra for the rain cover, which we think should come as standard, and any carrycots you need, although the buggy can be used from birth without them.

While we’re not sure the wheels will last four years, the rest of the pram feels made to last and offers decent value for money.

Final verdict

It may not be suitable for rough terrain and the small tyres aren't particularly easy to steer, but the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 Double is still a good option for city life. Compact, light and able to seat two children comfortably, we think it's the ideal option for families with both a newborn and a toddler.

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