help with double buggy decision - BJCM double? Britax B Agile Twin? Cheapy umbrella fold?

[anicecuppatea]

Hi,

DC2 is due in June when DC1 will be 19 months. Currently have the Baby Jogger City Mini which is marvellous but i'm thinking due to small age gap we won't get by without a double on occasion. Question is, do we go for a BJCM double, or the Britax B Agile Twin that i've just spotted, or just a cheap umbrella fold? Shame we can't attach our car seat to the BJCM double as we could with our single, but then wouldn't be able to with an umbrella fold either, nor could we with the Britax (as we have a maxi-cosi cabriofix which is bound to not be compatible?!) so I should give up on that being part of the deal I suppose! We don't really want to spend more than £250-300 which would mean buying the BJCM double second hand. Advice greatly appreciated as i'm going round and round in circles…

No advice but following as in the same situation!

I have a red kite zumi, the twin version, called the twini looks really good. They are rebranded valco pushchairs, the quality is good, excellent for the price. I had a bjcmd about 4 years ago and it was great, you wouldn't be disappointed and you know exactly what you're getting given you have the single. I have had the b agile single but the double is too wide imo. Look at the nipper double too, that may just fall within budget.

Thanks parties! Just looked up the Red Kite Push Me Twini and it looks great! Plenty of Baby Jogger-esque features but considerably cheaper. Very tempted by this one actually.

Link here showing the valco version on US amazon, there are a few reviews there to look through.

Am sure if you look into it im almost certain you can get an adaptor to attatch a carseat to the bjcmd.

umberella fold are awful to push, would defo avoid if possible.
B dual is excellent for different options but huuge lol.

I just bought a second hand BJCM double on eBay for £120 and there were plenty going for between £100 and £200.

DC2 is due in April and our age gap is 20 months, so very similar to you. I also have a BJCM single which I love .

I obviously haven't used the double properly yet but like the fact that it works exactly the same as the single, and it feels easy to steer.

Good luck!

Agree nicplus2 that umbrella folds not the nicest to push so have discounted that option now. Oh well done haahoooo sounds like you got a bargain. I love my bjcm single but having just measured our front door opening (74cms), I'm worried I won't get the double in and out of the house?! Anyone else have this issue?

I did, had a bjcmd then and it was annoying having to load and unload outside. I wouldn't do that again if I could help it, it wasn't the end of the world but being able to drive in is worth something imo having tried it the other way. Especially if you have children who will nap in pushchairs! Are you looking at tandems too? If you are then there's a good price on the obaby zezu multi here. There isn't a huge choice of tandems at this sort of price level, the b dual is probably in there but it's very wide with the wheel guards on. You may find a used oyster max. Side by sides you could fit a nipper in, that's 72cm and used would definitely fall in budget, you'd just need to make sure you got a newer 72cm one not an older 77cm.

Thanks parties, the new version nipper is the definite front runner at the mo. Hadn't really considered a tandem before as thought weight distribution i.e. having more weight towards the front might have been an issue for ease of push, getting up kerbs etc. Plus if dc2 is anything like dd1 then neither will like being stuck behind the other with no view once old enough to appreciate it. It'll be used mainly by me on foot but we will transport it by car fairly regularly too (have an estate so boot space no problem). Public transport use will be little to none. The more I think about it the more I really think the nipper is the one and I should stop procrastinating and just buy the darn thing!

Yup.. with a younger elder child (iyswim) you might use the double for a longer period so the view of both children might be more important. I'm saying might because I'm keeping in mind the range of ages children stop using pushchairs, differing lifestyles etc. and also the tussles we have had over the lower seat of the tandem (mummy can hear you talking at the back.. Apparently that's a fairly big draw :-/) dd1 would be happy to be pushed around even now a few days from her 4th birthday whereas dd2 would much rather walk to the point of collapse if given that freedom.

Is the carrycot available yet? I love a carrycot. I've just remembered you have until June. You have a while yet to procrastinate

Yes the Nipper carrycot is out. I would choose the BJCMD out of your original list but the Nipper is good....and better now there is a carrycot. Just watch out for the large harnesses. It wont take a car seat either though. The Oyster Max is excellent but better for a bigger age gap (look at the lower seat recline for when the baby is 6 months old - you can have the seats face to face, but the eldest may be too small for the height of the upper seats footrest). The Apple to Pear or Peach Blossom 2/3 would be my choice of tandem for your age gap.

Thanks tiggy. I'd love a BJCMD as I have loved our single and recommend it to just about everyone! but I just don't think we'd get it through our front door. That is definitely a deal breaker for me as DD does go to sleep in her buggy and it would be a complete pain to have to unload her and a newborn at the front door (with no porch or shelter) in all weathers. I've had a quick look at the iCandys and I like the fact they would take our maxi-cosi car seat but I'm just not sure they're right for us somehow. I keep coming back to a side-by-side style. Just noticed the mountain buggy duet can take a maxi cosi and is really nice and slim. Think that might have just overtaken the nipper as my no.1 choice!

My friend has a 20 month age gap & loves the nipper. I tried it, it's very light & easy to move about.
I'm choosing between city mini double & britax for 24 month gap baby due July. The reason I'm not going for nipper is the fact there's one hood. DS HATES having the hood up & I'm sure they'l be times I need to have it up to cover baby, so like the idea of separate hood.
I havnt seen the britax in the shops so havnt tried it out but what are the difference between that & BJCMD?

I had the BJCS double. It wrecked my wrist as dd is a heavy bugger as was Ds. The combined weight of them is plus the pram was a night mare on anything other than a shopping centre mall type thing. Kerbs were hell. When I bought it the lady in shop said I would be back within 6 months for a lighter one. She was right though it was more like 4 months. It also OFTEN was too wide for door ways.

I have the mountain buggy duet. Narrower than the BJCS. Love it. If it was a smaller fold it would be the perfect pram. My two would often hold hands in the pram and there was about a 22 month gap between them.

What did you go for anicecuppatea? Am in same dilemma!

If for twins, BJCM or Mountain Buggy Twin

If for different age gap, Phil and Teds or another convertable tandem style thingy; there are a lot more out there since I had my DS2 when DD was 17months old.

We bought a P&T, and shen DS2 was eight weeks old tested a raft of doubles for M&B magazine and they all showed me that we had made the right decision with regard to the double we did buy!

Nipper is 72cm wide. We were given a P&T, which I hate with a passion, otherwise I would have got the nipper. We also have the BJCM single and I luffs it loads.