Best off road buggy recommendations

[HowardMoonsTinyEyes]

Just as the title suggests, I was hoping for some recommendations for a pushchair suitable from birth onwards

I live in the depths of the country and so all my walks will be on country roads or tracks within the forest etc. This will be my first baby (woohoo), just over half way til the little one arrives, and so thought should really start thinking about all the stuff we're gonna need. I've had a look online but there is sooooo much.

your help is much appreciated

It depends on your budget, but if I was going to stick my neck out I'd say Mountain buggy for sheer quality and effectiveness.

I'm not sure how they are in terms of build now they're made in China - someone here will know about this - but I know the company I got ours from stopped selling them when the manufacturer changed as they weren't happy with the new ones.

So a second hand one might be the way to go. Some people swear by the Terrain model which is very basic and has no swivel wheel, however I have the Urban and I really like the swivel wheel. But I don't go off road very much.

Terrains are cheap second hand, Urbans not so much, and you can fix the front wheel in place but this isn't as strong a design as the Terrain.

Still, that's my recommendation. New ones come in at around £3-400 I think so second hand is a good bet, look on ebay by distance, see what you can find.

I also have an Easylife Sport which is cheaper to buy S/H but is also very very heavy. Bonus being it is built like a tank and folds to fit in a small boot.

First thought was mountain buggy but I have the abc Everest as you can add seats to it if you have more babies :-)

I've got the babyjogger summit XC and it's absolutely wonderful. It's quite heavy to lift as it's a well made beast of a thing, but effortless to push and fold. You get big wheels, with suspension on each wheel and you can either have the front wheel wobbly for fiddly steering or fixed out for a longer wheelbase off road. Wheels pop on and off easy for cleaning. Can get a pram bit and car seat that just click on and off with a really easy little adaptor kit, but the buggy's good up to 4yrs old. Worth every penny IMO.

Ooh I was trying to think of the other company that's good for serious walkers/outdoorsy folk.

Babyjogger do a whole range of decent buggies.

Thanks so much for your replies, really really helpful to have personal recommendations. Also thanks for the tip Flightty re new mountain buggy quality, I think we will only be able to afford second hand anyway, and this furthers this decision

Now off to set up an ebay search ....

yayyy we have just won on ebay a mb terrain! so i cannot tell you how it performs, but will be able to in June all being well.... there are quite a few that come up for sale on ebay so good luck bidding.

I came on here to suggest Mountain Buggy too. I loved my Urban.

Well done Surf

I had a terrain briefly, think it was the double. Something about it, proper 'old iron' as you might say about a British motorcycle

Howard, I think anything up till about 2009 should be the old ones. I think that's when they switched over, in 2010. They keep their looks and strength - funnily enough the only problem I had was with our brand new one, and the brake kept applying itself and then was impossible to get off! They sent us a new frame in the end and it's perfect. Think it was a dodgy batch.

Nothing else wrong with it, I love it and would marry it if it were a bloke

Nipper?

I use a Silver Cross Surf for my DD who is 10 weeks. So far it's been on the beach which is sand at low tide, pebbles at high, through the dunes (got some very funny looks for that one), across the common, along gravel tracks, through snow and fairly thick mud.

Beauty of the Surf for me is the light weight, the puncture less tyres and the ability to lock the front wheels for going off road.

I haven't tried any of the Mountain Buggy range so can't comment on it, my best mate has one and she loves it. She was also very surprised at how well the Surf kept up with her having scoffed at it when I got it out of the car :o

we have a nipper 360 single which is very good off road. It has suspension in the back wheels and is also lighter than comparable buggies. Definitely worth a try.

Which ever you buy, can I also recommend Slime - this is an inner tube sealant which automatically mends punctures as they occur. If you are really going off road you need to be prepared for punctures! Its about £15 but well worth it.