Bugaboo Chameleon, Bee or Icandy

[lorelei88]

Hello, sorry if this is repetitive to other strains, but I am a little obsessed by which pushchair to buy! I want to do a lot of walking in my local park, I have a big car, so I am leaning towards the Chameleon although my friends swear by the Bee. I tried their Bee's but it was a little flimsy. I also like the Carrycot option, but how long does that actually last? Have just found the Icandy which looks nice too - any help would be most appreciated. Its such a lot of money, I want to make sure I get it right!

Well, I've got an older model Bee and a Cameleon and my vote goes to the Cameleon!

I think both of them are fantastic (hence owning both!) - fantastic designs, both steer beautifully etc but for long walks, especially over rougher terrain, the Cam wins hands down. It is bigger and bulkier than the Bee, but as you say you've got plenty of room in the car, it really shouldn't be an issue for you.

The Bee is a fair bit lighter and is a bit easier to steer one handed - when out with small baby whilst holding a lively toddlers hand for example! - so great for shopping etc, but if on an uneven surface, I definitely notice the difference in how smoothly it pushes. Folds lovely and small though compared to the Cam.

The carrycot bit on the Cam is nice and spacious - used for both DS and DD - long AND heavy babies!- until about four months old. The only reason we changed to the pram seat early is because both children hated not being able to see out, once we changed over, trips out were much less stressful! We got around the problem of the bucket seat not being quite flat enough for a small baby by using those foam wedge things that are used in a car seat for newborns, it changed the bucket style seat into a nice gentle curve, much easier on babys back!

So, there you have it...Cameleon wins my vote, had it for 3 1/2 years and it is still going strong. We've also had fantastic customer service from Bugaboo in the past.

HTH and sorry for the ramble !

Thanks so much for your feedback - this is my first ever post so it was lovely to get a reply! Its so great to hear first hand what other mum's think. I think my heart is set on the Chameleon and DH is going shopping with me this weekend to test drive some just to be sure. So now its just the choice of accessories - I'm thinking bag clips, coffee holder (a must!), storage underneath (although it looks a bit tricky to use) and one of the cosy sleeping bags...any other accessories I should invest in?!

Thanks again - my mother thinks I have gone mad with all this research but I figure I have to live with it everyday and I want it to be perfect! Now, on to nappy bags....:)

we did loads of research as well - big investment so perfectly right to do it. I came down to choice of cameleon and Icandy Apple - went for the Icandy. Still waiting for baby so not tried yet.

Reasons - little bit cheaper, less people round me seem to have one, can be doubled up if heaven forbid we have a second, seems a bit more rugged with single wheel (we have dogs so will be a fair bit of dog walking). It really is personal preference however so go with gut instinct!

Only thing I would raise is something I seem to remember over an issue with the cameleon and some problem over ability to take the new maxicosi car seat - although I may be wrong.

Right, I am going to 'drive' the icandy this weekend. There are so many positive threads on this buggy too and I agree, in my area it feels a bit like bugaboo or nothing....I'm quite excited for the weekend now. Will keep you posted...and thanks for responding. It is fuelling my mild addiction!!

Hi Ive had a bee and a cam and a gecko, all lovely super prams but the bee made my chunky but not overly massive toddler look squashed at shoulders and it doesn't glide as well over bumpy pavements as the big wheels let you on a proper pram eg cam or gecko/bug frog or even candy type, my first was in a quinny pram as newborn.....had the buggies over course of next two years......currently on baby two, 5 months.....three buggies!!! And she got big looking in it waaaaay before 6 months they suggest you use it, but was winter baby and it was fab....dd 2 is heatwave yuk July baby and def didn't matter no carrycot at all, didn't need the cosy up effect you get with carrycot.....newborns very quickly indeed reach a looking at things stage when all you think they do is sleep n feed, then you may find yourself on a buggy/pram toy buying frenzy....and contemplating if they are big enough for seat part pram so they can see...my friends 3 month old screamed place down every time she tried lay her in cam pram body as she couldn't see anything! But .....super for bad weather....precious first horns! Hope that helps!

so helpful mummyistheword, thank you. March 15th is due date, should be sunny, but who knows, we may be in the depths of a snowstorm!

i've got a chameleon, and my friend's bee looks pretty flimsy in comparison...

my dd wouldn't go in the carry cot after about 12 weeks old as she got so frustrated wanting to see stuff, so she spent a lot of time in the car seat on it (a maxi cosi with adaptors ) at which point i thought it was a bit of a waste of money because it was hard to get stuff out of the basket at the bottom, but since she's been big enough to go in the proper seat (eek, we put her in at 4 months!) it's been fantastic for local walking... love it love it.

don't know what'll happen when I can't put the car seat on it when out and about, as it does take quite a lot of room, even in my golf estate...

looks amazingly cosy with the cosy-toe too!

After spending a long time in John Lewis today we decided on a Bee + and have just ordered one (EDD 22.02.11)

Our first pushchair for DS1 was the Bugaboo Frog, which is very similar to the Chameleon, and although the chameleon is the 'improved' version, I feel the Bee is better suited to city living. The fact it's just one piece, opposed to a seat and separate carrycot, and the easy fold mechanism helped make the choice. If this child was our first, opposed to our third I may well have gone for the chameleon, but space is now an issue in our house!

Good luck with your decision making!

i have the bee+ and it's very spacious even my 6y old fits in. For city use it's fantastic. Easy to fold in one piece, even with seat rear facing! Excellent suspension and nippy to manouver in the urban environment. With seat rear facing and upright position you can fit a huge amount of shopping into the easily accessible basket. The seat is very comfortable for my child and it's great that it extends as your child grows! My dc likes to nod off at nap time with hood up for privacy and seat facing me. For more interesting activities i am able to flip the seat around to forward facing in seconds. We love our bee+ for city days.

Thanks everyone for your help. After much research and a late Friday evening 'testdrive' around John Lewis, we decided on the Chameleon. Will let you know how we get on - very excited for it to be delivered now!