My short list and research

[anthonys]

After quite a few months of researching and testing I've come to my final short list of pushchairs. Thought I'd post it in order to seek some final advice but also hopefully it will help others. I have waited longer than I thought I would as there were a number of models due for release that I wanted to see. Baby due next month now!

The main requirements:

Light weight for use on and off London buses
Reversible seat for the flexibility
£500 budget (approx)
4 wheels for maximum stability
Decent storage basket
Easily folded (prefer with seat on)
Suitable for newborn in winter
Relatively narrow and agile for navigating city streets, small apartments, taking on holidays (car boots and planes), cafes etc
Built to last

And lastly .. be able to test it in a showroom in London which I thought would be easy, but it wasn't for all the candidates. I'm still not sure whether I take the risk and buy something unseen. At the end of the day most of these pushchairs meet my requirements and I'd probably be happy with any. I just started to nitpick in order to cross some off!

The final list (after a lot of reading, weight with seat and cost is approx with carrycot):

Bugaboo Cameleon (9.3kg £770), Uppababy Vista (11.5kg £600) ? both a bit too bulky and over budget
Bugaboo Bee (8.5kg £560) ? newborn carrycot doesn't offer much protection from the weather and lots of reports of faulty wheels
Babystyle Oyster (10.5kg £350) ? reports of poor build quality and warranty not as long as others
Graco Evo (9.5kg £380) ? iCandy cherry seems to have the edge for my needs at a similar cost
Silvercross Surf (11.3kg £600) ? badly designed storage basket and over budget
iCandy Strawberry (12.3kg £545) ? too bulky when folded
Easywalker June (9.9kg £600 without cot) ? over budget and unable to find anywhere that stocks in London

The short list:

iCandy Cherry (9.8kg £460)? can't fold with seat and Cruz just beats it in features if a little more expensive
Jane Muum (11kg £450) ? can't find stock in London and Evo has better reviews so it seems like the Evo would be a better option if I take the gamble on an unseen model
Babyjogger Versa (11.9kg £520)? really nicely built but otherwise similar features to Cruz but a bit heavier, larger and more expensive
Mutsy Evo (11.9kg £400) ? been unable to view ? on paper it looks good though suspect maybe too bulky?
Uppababy Cruz (9.9kg £500) ? meets all the requirements plus it's got a nice high position, it's just a little ugly :)

So looks like the Cruz wins (just) and may put an order in this week but just wanted to see what the consensus was around taking the gamble on the Mutsy, it's £100 cheaper and think it's a nicer design.. or any other model on my short list for that matter.

Oooh! Tiggy has her June! Will keep an eye on the June thread.

I am decided on the Bee - not so much for public transport reasons, more because of its low handle height + overall smallness/lightness (+ therefore longevity as a stroller). Just trying to find the best deal at the mo before ordering

Thanks again minipie. I must admit, I do really love the mica silver in the Vista and if the cruz came in silver then that would be it. Not a big fan of babies in black. LO would prob need to sleep in a travel cot maybe 2 nights every fortnight. Have a moses basket at home but a carrycot would be really useful when we stay at the DP. Aaaaaagh!!!
This is so typical me when I have to make big decisions, well not always...

I was looking at the Bee, but found the seat too low and it feels quite exposed. I really love the large shopping basket on the UppaBaby but the Bee is so perfect for public transport. Also, as LO will be born in winter I like the idea of a snug carrycot and also for the overnight sleeping we will do when we go to stay at DPs.
The thing that really turned me off the Bee was when I went into a store and the assistant identified manufacturing problems with the wheels and then I'm supposed to bring it back to them. That riled me slightly with bugaboo as a company who really should have done a recall. Why and I paying inexcess of £400 for a product and you know there are issues with the wheels before I hand over my money? That didn't make sense to me as a consumer.

I'm probably going to head up to John Lewis again this weekend for another play with and compare of the bee and strawberry. I'm hoping they have a versa in stock too so I can look at that.

I'm pretty set on the strawberry and we already have the carrycot from gumtree, but I'm guessing I'll be able to resell that pretty easily if we change our mind.

I'll probably be with a friend and her 3 year old so can get her views and maybe even try them out with the 3 year old in to help me work out what will work best in the long run. She's another London public transport user so should give me some useful guidance.

Taking a toddler is a good idea in so many ways

It's all about priorities, nothing will be perfect for everything, have everything you want, the right height seat, the right colour etc. (:-O on the colour thing btw)

Have you all seen the new Stokke Scoot that is due soon? That is narrow with a high seat seemingly... here It's the one on the left....

The toddler would be coming anyway as the main purpose of the shopping trip is to help my friend get stuff she needs, but I may as well utilise his services while we're there.

Mini - John Lewis price match I think. If you find it cheaper elsewhere if try to get them to match it as they have such good customer service.

I'm thinking the bee has more pros than cons. It is a great London pushchair.

Didn't like the cruz as much on second viewing and with carrycot not much cheaper than the bee.

For a winter baby I actually like the cacoon over a carry cot bit I think I'm in the minority about that.

Tiggy???????

Re the strawberry. Someone came into my work the other day. It was raining out, she had the rain over on so baby didn't get wet but the underneath basket was full of water. This was withdraw parent facing. Not sure if it's a usual problem but put me off.

Thanks Diamond, I will try the price match thing at JL.

2blessed I wanted a carrycot too, but then was told that the micralite toro carrycot (older model not the new airflo one) fits onto the bee. So that is my plan. It's only suitable for "occasional" overnight use tho so may not work for you, I don't know whether 2x a fortnight is occasional or not. (Travel cots are cheap second hand on gumtree though!). I agree with you about the wheel issue though, v annoying that they haven't yet fixed it. It doesn't happen to all bees so I am just hoping to be lucky.

Diamond you can just get a different raincover if the water in the basket really bothers you, that's very easily fixed. Perfection is soooooo not out there....

I really not a buggy expert, but.... I have the 2009 bee. It has been great on tubes, buses, trains, planes and ferries. I had a winter baby and am going to have another and found the cocoon quite cosy enough. I never missed a carry cot. The only cons for me have been the small basket and that DS now aged 2.8 is a bit tall and his head presses on the hood if i have to use it. Have you considered a second hand 2009 model? No wheel issues at all. all the fabric comes off and goes in the washing machine and the chassis is easy enough to clean up if 2nd hand has a "yuck" factor for you.

Ihateparties - that was with the rain cover on. Or can you get a cover for the basket?

Oddly I was always more of a fan of the 2009 bee, don't know exactly why.

I was thinking of a different raincover altogether (having been a victim of a couple of ridiculous ones recently, such as the Jane one with boning that is so big folded you cannot fit it in the pushchair basket >:-l) One with more coverage that the original bee one?

Just thinking - I wonder what it's like to tip with the carry cot on?

Just spotted this.

www.pret-a-mummy.com/2012/10/my-new-easywalker-june.html NO actual review yet but I'll keep my eye out.

I hadn't thought of the carrycot on the June....but it intrigues me why turning the seat round makes such a huge difference. There's no problem at all tipping up kerbs forward facing. Rear facing, I can do it even with a heavy 4 year old in...it's not impossible....in fact it's here in front of me now. I think I am going to open it and have a play......

Ok, I need to try with my youngest in the seat to get up a kerb...I have only tried with my heavy 4 year old in so far to get up a kerb. When i took my two year od out we just drove over all the smaller edges / dropped kerb edges. With no child in the seat it's easy to tip the pushchair rear facing and forward facing...so a newborn may not be too bad?...and realistically by 2/3 your child would probably be forward facing?
As for basket space....I have just tried to put my handbag under...its about 25x35cms and 20cms thick and it wouldn't fit. I did undo the Velcro tab at the front of the June basket and it then slid my bag in easily but its not realistic to do this eg paying for shopping - I get flustered enough dealing with bags, purse, money etc without undoing the basket. But for more of an outing where I wanted to put a changing bag or food in for lunchtime then I would undo the Velcro and use the basket. I think my Bugaboo Organisers would fit through the side or would even Velcro onto the side bars.
Hubby loves how it looks. He likes it a lot too. He's bemused by the lack of an autolock too. We think it would be easy to loop some Velcro through the chassis the keep it folded - mainly for standing upright - its usually an advantage for the car to have a pushchair that flicks open. Hubby doesn't like the bucket seat but my two love the Nipper seat and I think both look comfy in the June seat. My four year old loves it and she's a huge critic...she will not sit in a pushchair if she doesn't like it!
For me though, I can't stress how unfussy the June is mainly due to the retractable hood. My two year old hates not being able to see me but I bet he would have no issue with the June because the view is so clear. You are literally above the child.
I will add that I m very used to double pushchairs so am used to pushchairs that are hard to to up kerbs or having to compromise forcseating positions, reversing down steps etc. But the June is just cute and looks dinky and it's right up my street TBH.

Ah just seen the suggestion of the 2009 bee - however I have literally just placed an order for a new one! Tbh I think I would prefer a new one for the warranty and the pfb factor plus I think there are a couple of things improved on the newer model iirc.

Mini - where did you order from? How long is the wait?

I can't remember sorry, what made you choose the Bee over the Cruz.

This thread is totally brilliant! :D DC1 is due on Christmas Eve and I've only just started looking at prams this weekend. Was beginning to panic I'd left it a bit late but you ladies has answered so many of my questions already- thank you! I'm a Londoner too, so have the many of same criteria and was also looking around the £500 mark.

To my surprise, I was quite taken with the Mamas and Papas Urbo (I only went in M&P to be 'thorough'!) - nice looks, good handling, not so blingy as the iCandy, has carrycot, easy to fold, shit storage tho!

Its notable in its absence from this thread - am I missing some really obvious flaw with it that you've all spotted?!

Yes...avoid anything M&P!
The Urbo looks lovely but there's zero suspension. Within 30 mins my hands hurt to push it. The brake is not decisive ie you don't know if it's on properly and my Urbo rolled off a kerb into a road after I thought I had applied the brake. The seat back sits upright when you pull the hood up. The footrest isn't in a sensible place for an older toddler. The basket is poor. The plus sides are the big hood and tall seat. But just don't even go there!! There's much better available to buy (but the Sola is worse!)

The new Bee Plus is miles better than the old version. The hood grows with the child and I think the extending seat is genius. My two year old is still on the lowest - non extended settings and my four year old isn't anywhere near the hood. And she's tall!

Diamond I ordered from Peppermint - they have a "free car seat if you spend £500" deal in store at the moment (they said today was the last day but then they also said that a few weeks ago ). So that meant their deal for bug bee +car seat adaptors + car seat is £508, better than I could find elsewhere and they are round the corner from us so easy to pop in if anything goes wrong! The wait is very little - a few days if they have the colour you want in stock, 2 weeks if not. (iCandys are a different matter...)

The main reason for going for the Bee instead of the Cruz is my height, I am 5'3 and the Cruz handle felt really high and a bit uncomfortable for me. Otherwise I suspect we'd have picked the Cruz tbh, for the bigger basket and higher seat position and just prefer its looks. But the Bee does have other advantages, mainly that it's lighter and narrower and grows with the child so more likely to keep it as a stroller.

tiggy thank you for the endorsement of the new version - phew! also thanks for the Urbo review, it ticks my boxes on paper but good to see I had good reasons for not even looking at it

Hmm thats interesting about the Urbo - it gets such a high score from Which? so it went straight on my shortlist. Funny that Mumsnetters experiences of it is so different to the Which? testers. I've got plenty of food for thought now!

Will probably be back in a couple of days with some more inane questions ;)

I have a 2009 bee (got a good deal on a new one in 2010 when the new model was released.)
I have used it for almost 2 years and loved it! DS was born on a snowy day and was snug as anything in his cocoon. I am 5ft 9 and never felt too far away from him even as a new born. I lived in London and the easily maneuverability and slim size made getting around so easy. I agree that the storage is a PITA. never had any problems with the wheels etc - but am guessing a week after my warranty runs out it will crumble.
I haven't heard of half of the pushchairs/prams mentioned but the tips are very useful, so shall consult if and when I have another child (will take a lot to make me replace me Bee.

Thanks Mini! Good to know the wait for the Bee isn't long. I'm due in 10 weeks. Going to compare the cruz and bee again at the weekend and make a decision.

Scarlette - I'm also due Xmas eve!

I was really torn between those two Diamond - be interesting to see which you choose. Baby Nest in Croydon has both, as I believe does Tommy's in Peckham and Huggle in Swiss Cottage, if you are looking for somewhere to compare side by side. But you probably already know this!

Good to hear anothe Bee endorsement Lainey.

On the subject of the Urbo, a search shows initial reviews tend to be pretty positive, but then people hate it after a few months when bits start breaking! Of course Which? doesn't test things over a long period.