Babystyle Oyster - why should I not buy it?

[oohlaalaa]

Very taken with the Babystyle Oyster.

Had a look at it, at our local shop. I'm a pushchair novice, but I really liked it, did everything we want, seemed well built, and came in under budget.

We'd have the separate carrycot.

We're also off to look at a Baby Jogger City Versa, but we have to travel an hour for this shop, and it's more expensive.

I've also noticed the Evo recommended here, and it might meet our requirements, but again not sold locally.

With all accessories, our max. budget is £500.

So lovely pushchair aficionados, are there any issues with the Oyster, that I should be made aware of?

Funny this should come up, I saw all 3 in the same showroom on Sunday along with a lot of other things. The opinion of the man in the shop was in the years he has been selling baby jogger he has only ever dealt with one fault, the same could not be said of the Oyster despite its popularity. As I say, this is not something I have directly experienced, purely a comment from a retailer.

I suppose more generally I would say what are your priorities? I suspect the Evo and Versa will be bouncier and more comfortable to push but on the wider side, 60cm+ to the Oysters 56cm. I used an Oyster recently after fancying one for years and didn't particularly like it, in theory I did for all that it offers with the compact size and price, just not in practise. I dislike a hard ride though and the model I had definitely was.

The Versa was great but quite large, the Evo is similarly quite large, it seemed shorter than the Versa but I didn't measure. I was in the shop to see the Easywalker June, which is really interesting but well over the £500 with all the bits. Have you seen or would you consider an iCandy Cherry or a Graco Evo?

I understood iCandy's were expensive, so avoided looking. Friends who had a baby last June, had problems getting their iCandy that they'd ordered 5 months earlier, in time for baby.

Rather embarrassed to admit, but rather put off by the name iCandy. It just seems like they've put 'i' in front of it, like iPad, iPhone, iMac to make it trendy. I know ludicrous of me to care about such things. I'm always wary of anything that's trendy, as I think I'm paying for the name.

They had some Gracos in shop with Oyster. I?m not sure which one we were looking at, but we had to have the Graco car seat, and I thought the Oyster seemed sturdier.

We ummed and arrhhed about buying second hand, but have decided to go new, as we'll have the warranty and would like it to do two children. Also my parents have offered to pay half the cost

It'll be our one big baby purchase, but as we're not rolling in cash, we still need cheapish.

I've found somewhere on internet, just over an hour away, that sell Vista, Mutsy Evo and Oyster, so may have to go there, for a proper comparison.

Also, my husband's no better with the name iCandy, except he says it like "eye candy", and a pretty female........ Not good. Nobody else has iCandy name issues on mumsnet, I take it?

I don't like the iCandy name or how shiney it is but we're planning on getting one anyway as the features best meet our requirements and we really liked it overall.

I never liked the shininess either. The Cherry isn't shiny or expensive, circa £400 for stroller with carrycot. The Strawberry and Peach are more sought after and much more expensive.

The Graco Evo is also in mothercare, they had an exclusive on it until september but the colours the independents have look nicer imo. The seat lies flat so whilst a carrycot is available to buy it is not a necessity, footmuff etc also seems to come with. Honestly couldn't say how it would fare over two children.

I think you're probably sensible to buy new in this context. I think my money would probably be going on a Versa but seeing things is the most useful way of determining your own priorities.

Thank you both. I should probably not be so dismissive of the Cherry.

I'm looking forward to seeing all three.

Anybody have any reasons why I should not buy the Oyster?

I love my Oyster but if I had to state any problems with it i would say the shopping basket is way too small and is not very accessible if you have the carrycot on or the buggy parent facing. There is a bit of a knack to folding it and it doesnt fold down very small either. That said I didn't really compare it to any other prams as i saw it, fell in love with it, and was able to take it away there and then rather than have to wait weeks and weeks.

My reasons I suppose would be the suspension is hard and the retailer reporting how many problems he had experienced with them....

I chose the Oyster over iCandy cherry & strawberry. I've been using it for 10 weeks, the only minor niggles are:

The part where the handle pushes into stores rainwater! I got caught on the school run in a downpour and got wet feet from it the next day when I folded the chassis and put it in the car.

I find the basket big enough, but not that easy to access with carrycot or buggyboard on.

Definite knack to folding it.

Maxi Cosi car seat adaptors are very stiff and I have to have a foot on the wheel / unclip one side at a time.

Other than the above, I love it. This is my 9th buggy / pram and definitely the best yet.

Thank you.

WeAreSix - great to hear it's the best out of 9 buggys.

Not bought it yet. I loved it for the price, but the reviews are quite mixed, and just not ready to make the leap yet. If I didn't have the internet, I'd have probably bought it there and then. Internet research just confuses me!!

The shop with the Oyster is getting the Vista in stock in January, but I'd like to have it bought before then. I'm due first week in Feb.

They wouldn't give me a price for Versa either. I don't want to find it's increased in price for 2013. If we drive and hour and a bit up north we can see all three together...

Try and see them all and don't dismiss the Cherry because it's a lovely pushchair. The Versa is fab too. The oyster has a lot going for it. My issue is that children don't quite sit upright in the seat...they slump. When the seat is on, the tilt is slightly different forward and reverse facing too. This has een resolved with the Oyster Max as there's an additional seating position ie four instead of three, plus two crotch settings. This makes a huge difference.

Had my Oyster for 2 years now, and the only problem mentioned, that I've experienced is the seat not sitting perfectly upright.

Saying that, it's not actually a problem and DD loves it.

I love how easy it is to push, one handed, if necessary, it turns on a sixpence, and fits through narrow doorways.

Will be using it for newborn, when it arrives (due yesterday!) with the Britax car seat / no adaptors needed.

I've been using an oyster for 2 months since dd2 was born, with the carrycot and Britax seat (I'd recommend going for the cheaper Babysafe for Oyster rather than the Babysafe SHR if you go for a Britax seat - I had to return 2 SHRs when the handle stuck, it's a common fault that Britax refuse to acknowledge , but my Babysafe for Oyster (ordered with the pram) has been fine.))

I love that the pram is so easy to manoeuvre, but as previously mentioned there is a knack for folding it! (I've worked out that if you pull the left sided slider a second before the right it folds easily, if you pull them at the exact same time it sticks .

Mine has developed a fault this morning though - the handle adjustment has broken and failing to 'catch' when it meets the setting, and sliding in and out when I'm not pressing the release. Fair play to Babystyle though - they are sending a courier to collect it from the shop this afternoon after the shop warned me that it wouldn't be collected until Monday, and they've said I should get it back within 5-7 days. The man in the shop said that he'd only seen a few with faults of the thousand or so that they've sold.

Thanks. None of your comments are persuading me I must rush out and buy the Oyster, but not dismissing it either.

I will get past my aversion to iCandy, and have a look at the Cherry. I think we're going to have to go on another pushchair shopping trip.

Oh, and with regard to customer service, I broke the plastic part of the harness - my own fault. Rang Babystyle to order another and they sent me one the following day totally free!

No regrets about buying ours. We've had our money worth from the carrycot tbh. Basket is quite hard o get to but not the end of the world if you have a dh to unload it when he gets in and maxi cosi adaptors were stiff until we realised we never need to take them off the car seat, it stands up and fits n car seat base fine as is. Folds small if you take it apart, was one of the only to fit in my boot. I don't have any problem folding it. Hths

For resale value you are better with an iCandy.

Reasons not to buy:
Small wheels at front make the pushchair tip easy. Not good when new born loose in carry cot.
The pram is ideal for smooth pavements and a dream at the shopping centre. However, the wheels get stuck in groves in the payment.
Even with air tires it is very bumpy on pavements.

Oh, it is also a common fault for the pin in the front wheel to come off. The pushchair shop had spares and knew how to fix it easily though.

Dh has a large stride and sometimes kicks the back wheel release meaning one of the back wheels falls off. I have done this twice.

The hood says its adjustable. It is but there is nothing to fix it in place.

I can't fault Babystyle's customer service - they've replaced my handle and the chassis is back at the shop, they only took 3 working days

Had one for the past year since DS was 5 months. Pretty happy with it.

Like others said, the fold can be sticky - and it's still fairly bulky when folded (compared to some but it is a travel system, so these are never teeny).

I think it's comfy, extremely easy to swap pushchair direction and/or the car seat (got maxi cosy) and the basket is sturdy and a decent size.