Britax Affinity - anyone seen it yet?? Plus are travel systems / parent facing actually important? HELP!!

[smiales01]

I'm slowly losing the plot over my first pushchair! I have been researching for a few weeks now and these are the things I wanted:

• Parent facing
• Lightweight (to me that's 10kg or less)
• Compact fold/not have to take seat off
• Suitable from newborn - no carrycot but will consider an insert.
• forever air/foam tyres
• Suspension would be nice
• Width, the likes of BJ select and quinny buzz are just too wide.

I will probably be on pavements 80% of the time but would like something capable of grass, gravel, possibly a bit of a walk round the river.

So far I've narrowed down to the following

• Baby Jogger CM GT which I think is ugly but very nice to push. Not keen on the nylon flap at the back, looks cheap. Also it means no patent facing which ideally would be nice but seriously wonder if its important. The development thing seems like crap to me seeing as the rest of the day you are with your child - cant see a couple of hours walking being that much of a biggie. Would be more for my reassurance of seeing he was ok.
• Uppababy Cruz, love this and keep going back to it. Seems to offer a lot but only a little bit of suspension and the fold isn't amazing, esp as in parent facing you have to remove the seat. It's very nice though...
• Baby Jogger Versa GT - love everything about it but the weight and that its only in black. I don't understand black pushchairs.
• Britax Affinity - this looks like it would be perfect but no where has it in yet - bit heavier than the 10kg again but...
• Jane Muum, played with this yesterday for the first time, again it's a bit heavier than I wanted to go but it's got a lot going for it and its very reasonable at £250.

Think they are the main contenders. Even then I think why am I obsessing as all these things seem to go out the window for most parents after a year from what I can see as everyone has little mclaren buggies! Makes me wonder why any of us are so bothered about all these features!

I'm so confused.

I think if you aren't walking several hours every day, then I dont see parent facing as a biggie. Most under 12 month olds (and some over 12 month olds) will be asleep within minutes of you leaving the house and will sleep through an entire outing.
I also see no reason to swap a pushchair for a Maclaren either if the right pushchair for you is bought at the start - there are an awful lot of tanks out there and people seem to think you need a huge big bouncy pushchair. Your choices seem pretty good.

My comments:
The BJCMGT is excellent - this is a great "Maclaren" alternative - one a lot of people move onto after their bigger pushchairs, so starting with one is sensible. However if you like the Versa then that really is better, and I would consider it. Is there a reason why you have chosen the GT over the standard Versa. The standard Versa is perfectly good across grass, rough ground, even farmers fields, and has good suspension. The GT just has the better wheels, but the standard Versa wheels are far better than the Cruz or a Maclaren's wheels! You then get more choice of colours. Black pushchairs are more popular as they can be "dressed up" with coloured liners and footmuffs. The Versa GT was done partly because of demand here by MN-ers and they said they would do one batch to see how they sell. There's also UK safety regs and choosing one colours saves thousands in safety testing. Things like hoods dont count, so such as Mountain Buggy and Babystyle do black pushchairs with coloured hood options.
The Cruz is lovely as in the seat is light and easy to use. The features are great. but the lack of suspension really hurts when you take it out. I had one and I couldn't bring myself to sell it for ages because I loved the idea, nice seat, big basket etc. but the suspension every time got to me. I sold it and have to say I really hope the suspension gets fixed because at present, the Vista definitely is better.
The Jane Muum - hmm...it has a lot going for it, but I hate the fabrics. They get damaged really easily by a sharp finger nail or getting caught. They remind me of tights which ladder easily.
I nearly ordered a Britax Affinity because in theory it looks great. BUT every single Britax pushchair I have had to date has had a poor seating position - and I am very wary that this is now a general Britax issue. I want to put my child into the seat of one before I buy - and thats unlike me as I usually try anything even if I know its not good. I hope there is no issue...but I am not convinced.

Thanks Tiggy,

I've loved the whole searching thing for ages but yesterday I got really stressed about it and hormonal so I think I need to make the decision now and forget about it!

The cruz still is up there for me but with what you and others have said re suspension does put me off a lot. The BJCM I think is great and I reckon in a year I'll have one but for now I have concluded that I will want to see him for a while. It's not the sensible conclusion and I know it's more for me than him but I don't want to be niggling about it after I've chosen. So after getting a bit upset last night I've decided I will just get what I like and accept that I will ultimately scale down in time.

The main appeal of the Jane Muum is the price, £250 seems to get you pretty much all you need, no inserts/carrycots req and it folds with the seat on. Not the lightest I know. I've heard about the fabric snagging which puts me off and the hood wasn't great which was quite a big factor for me as I hate parasols. I want simple I suppose. What else do you know about this one? Are the tyres ok and it felt like there was a bit of suspension in it?

Interesting about the Britax, I haven't played with them a lot but a local pram shop is selling a red b-smart on offer for £199 and I'm tempted to go for it. At that price I won't feel bad when I move on. What are your thoughts on these?

Lastly, any other recommendations - you seem very up on all this!

I have a twone, which is a muum chassis with a couple of small alterations, it's really nice to push and although some of the material has bobbled slightly in 8 months of use it's really not bad, the whole thing has worn well, there isn't a single scratch of note on the frame and the seats are unmarked. The hood of the muum is different and i agree not the best. Neither do i think it's heavy either but given the twone is several kilos heavier irl than the stats online claim then maybe it is over ten kilos. It fits your brief perfectly and imo better than a b smart to push and use. A versa would be fab also for the money it is really very good. It's hard to predict whether you will switch to something smaller. The bee is not mentioned, is there a reason you've discounted it that i missed, it also fits your brief very well. Ditto the njoy bubble.

Not sure what your budget or timescale is, but the bugaboo buffalo might work?

Don't know how much it weighs...

I would add in a Mutsy Evo to have a look at. For the price its amazing quality and good seating positions.
Strangely I saw a B Smart today and from what I saw, that too has the poor seating position of the other Britax pushchairs. The crotch strap seemed a long way forwards on the child I was strapping in.

I think you have to go a long way to beat the Baby Jogger Versa though.

The b smart and b dual seat is identical as far as i know. I don't like the lack of footrest but the twone has no footrest either and no one slumps. Hmm.

what is your budget. my first thought was stokke scoot. but it isnt cheap.

I dont understand what makes children slump in the Britax pushchairs. I agree that the Twone is fine. I wish Britax would look at it though because they have some fab pushchairs, just spoilt by children slumping or sliding :(