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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I have to ask: bugaboo

103 replies

Paraibalove · 20/09/2014 13:48

What's the ishooo with bugaboo here? I notice it mentioned alot but can't really figure out what the problem is?

I quite like the look of them, but as I love in the country there's no way I'd have one for practical reasons. . but I need to know why they're shunned a bit here on MN?!

OP posts:
TwoLittleTerrors · 20/09/2014 15:02

littlepeas you do know you can buy a cameleon foot muff on eBay? I even found one the same colour as my fabric. No more expensive than any other brand.

maggiethemagpie · 20/09/2014 15:05

Well I love the bugaboo bee. You say flimsy - I say nippy. You say tinny - I say compact.

I wouldn't use anything else!

ineedausername · 20/09/2014 15:41

I had a donkey, loved it! My daughter was only 1 when my son was born and she wasn't anywhere near walking. I didn't drive at the time so wanted something comfortable for the kids. And it was, there were so many different ways to have the seats.

NorrisCole · 20/09/2014 15:41

I had a Cameleon and I loved it, it was easy to push and the pram part was huge.

I got rid of it when I realised how much of a pain it was to fold up whilst trying to hold a baby, a 4 year old and shopping whenever I got the bus.

I bought a Mamas and papas armadillo and it's fantastic.

I then caved and bought a bee too and I absolutely hated it. So small, difficult to steer and flimsy.

I also hated paying ridiculous prices for extras.

beccajoh · 20/09/2014 15:46

We were all set to get a Chameleon until the woman in John Lewis showed us how to fold it. She lost us when she had to take the seat unit off to fold it. No way I was going to be arsing around like that. Shame really as they look good otherwise.

Familyguyfan · 20/09/2014 15:52

I bought a very nice buggy and hated it within a couple of weeks so bought a second hand Chameleon. It is now on baby number 2 and still fabulous. It turns on a six pence, strips down so I can wash all the soft bits, is great on most surfaces (I have a baby sling thing for proper wilderness) and I would recommend it to anyone.

LittleprincessinGOLDrocks · 20/09/2014 15:54

My friend had a Bugaboo Cameleon, her parents bought it for her as it was seen as the best pram on the market. I had just bought a Pliko pramette from Mamas and Papas, which I adored.
My friend asked to swap with me repeatedly. She preferred how my pram handled on the road and on the tow path of the canal. She would offer to push my baby instead of her own.
I have to say I did prefer my pliko, I liked the way it handled and how light it was, but a Bugaboo was never in my price range so I never seriously considered one.
I did fall in love with a Mothercare pram, but they pulled it from sale just before I was ready to buy (never found out why). Then I found the pliko and I was sold on it, much better than my Brittax travel system.
I think you have to look at what you can comfortably afford and then take them for a proper test drive before you can make an informed decision.

MiaowTheCat · 20/09/2014 16:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

poolomoomon · 20/09/2014 17:10

I loathe the Bee, it's hideous. I've always hated it, it's just such a bizarre shape...

However I have the chameleon and I love it. If the donkey had been released when I had two in a pram I would have bought that, really jealous I'll never get to use the donkey Sad. I've never heard anyone slate Bugaboos tbh, only to whinge about how expensive they are... Which they don't have to be if you use ebay. Not flimsy or cheap Confused, very sturdy IMO. One of the best looking prams on the market too. The brake is a bit irritating, it reminds me of the till on Open All Hours Grin.

Don't see many Bugaboos around here, the Quinny or Stokke seem to be most common.

SuperGlue · 20/09/2014 17:12

We had a chameleon for dd and it was literally the best thing we ever bought for her. We travelled long haul a lot with it and it was perfect. So comfortable for her to sleep in when reclined. Very easy to push and steer, lovely high handle (we are both tall), gorgeous warm cosy toes thing. I have no criticism of it at all. It was bought in 2005 and we used it will dd was 4 (for travel and long walks about the city)

Have it stored safely for dc2 who sadly never materialized.

Primafacie · 20/09/2014 17:18

I bought a frog off eBay. It was third hand, and 2-4 kids had been in it before it got here. It served me perfectly with my two babies and I've re homed it with a friend who is now using it with her second child. So it's done a fab job for about 7 babies and still going. Wonderful piece of kit!

KoalaDownUnder · 20/09/2014 17:19

My friends just bought a brand new Stokke Xplory for their PFB. Surely that's the most wanky pram of all.

gordyslovesheep · 20/09/2014 17:23

I don't get it either OP - why would anyone loath an inanimate object!

I had a Bee (in bright pink!) because I went to a big rpam shop and it was the only one that fit in the boot of my Mini (2007)

It lasted 3 years - when she stopped using it, and I bloody loved it - easy to put up/down, easy to steer one handed etc and I made £200 flogging it on Ebay

I never even notice other peoples prams or the brands and am the least interested in prams person you would ever meet - but i thought it was a cracking little pram

smilingthroughgrittedteeth · 20/09/2014 17:24

When my charge was a baby (im a nanny) they had a chameleon, I hated it because I had to take the wheels off to get it in the car and since they lived in a village in the middle of nowhere I had to use the car to go anywhere, it was a real faff and by the time he was 1 id had enough and bought my own pushchair so I didnt have to use it.

apart from that it was fine and im sure if we had been in London or any other city it would have been fine.

RiverTam · 20/09/2014 17:27

the bugaboo bee I had didn't need 2 hands for the brake, it was a single foot brake.

I loved my bee, it was nippy, narrow (so good for our hallway and for public transport), adjustable handlebar, single handlebar so good when DD started walking and I had to push it single-handed, collapsed well to fit in our tiny boot, nice big hood so good for naps. Couldn't fault it.

CommanderShepard · 20/09/2014 17:58

I really hate 4 wheels; I much prefer 3. That's pretty much it. I can see why people like them. I love my Britax because of the carrycot which did DD til she could sit up but I borrowed my friend's Mountain Buggy once and the steering was the best I've ever come across.

Interestingly the inverse snobbery on here only goes so far - I've seen some less than polite comments on Graco pushchairs, for example.

Ultracrepidarian · 20/09/2014 18:22

We have a frog I love it we bought it from stroller mamma in the USA and even with imports we managed to buy it for around £250 it was a discontinued colour and a total bargain, this was 8 years ago. This pushchair has been through four children and is still going strong, oh and for £50 you can buy chunky wheels for the front instead of the spinny round skinny wheels it reduces the steering a bit but you don't get leaves or mud clogged in them and we off road and forest track all the time or trudge through sand and snow. The only thing we've never used in 8 years is the mosquito net. It was also very light and easy to put together and had a good sized bassinet. We weren't posh, still aren't but it was the best value and one of the best purchases we made.

Pastperfect · 20/09/2014 18:29

I bought my first bugaboo ten years ago - I loved it. Used many other prams over the years: either my own or friends and I'm in no doubt that it was some of the best money I've ever spent

sharon56bus · 20/09/2014 18:29

Definition
www.wordnik.com/words/bugaboo

mommathatwearspink · 20/09/2014 18:37

I have a Cameleon 3 for DD and I absolutely love it. I tried a lot of prams and this was by far the best I tried... very light and easy to steer. The only downside is that they are impossible to push on stones and other off- road surfaces.

Original poster
Paraibalove · 20/09/2014 19:03

HelloLAandSaucyJack that made me laugh aloud! and YY to the poster who said about the stokke being wanky. looks like a spaceship!

but people need different things from their buggies and I've been few a fair amount to crack my criteria- as I say I live in the country so the bee for example would fall to pieces just looking at the cobbled paths or being pushed down the farm. but there's no denying it's lightweight fold and narrow design for space - tight city dwellers.

but really I just couldn't work out what it was about the bugaboo brand that there seems to be this air of it being a bit twatish to own one and I couldn't figure it out.. I'd consider one if it was suitable and I'd like to think I'm not a poncy twat Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
Paraibalove · 20/09/2014 19:04

through not few*. Not a twat but clearly illiterate.

OP posts:
MillieH30 · 20/09/2014 19:15

John Lewis swapped a new Bugaboo Bee for our iCandy Cherry after it had been back to the manufacturer 3 times in under a year and was still not working properly.

Find the Bee great for City living, and my 22m old seems content and comfortable. Very happy with it.

HaroldLloyd · 20/09/2014 19:20

I got a bee because it was only one of 2 prams that would fit in my boot.

I've seen shit loads of nasty comments on here! It's a bit daft really as there are loads of expensive brands you can buy. I wanted to get something decent and it's small enough not to have to buy a buggy, get on and off buses and get through cafés and the like.

I do like a inverse pram snobbery thread. I remember the one where the poster didn't even know what pram it was at all!

Unfortunalty we don't all have relatives giving away free stuff or a handy local skip so i had to buy one.

LiverpoolLou · 20/09/2014 19:30

I have a bugaboo chameleon. It's ok, does the job, but if I were choosing again I'd pick something else. My two biggest gripes are that the extending handle extends by itself when pulling the pram up or down the ramp on stairs which makes me nervous. Secondly the seat has to come off to go in the boot. So either it goes in first with dirty wet wheels on top or it goes on the dirty wet ground while you load the wheels.

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