Are more expensive pushchairs worth it?

[LordTumble]

Hello

I'm currently 22 weeks with DC2 and have just started looking into a pram. I'm not very pram savvy, but basically want something lightweight, parent facing and suitable for a newborn. We're going to go have a look round some shops this Sunday.

So far, Graco Evo and Babystyle Oyster look like possible contenders. However I'm also really liking the look of the Bugaboo Bee and the iCandy Raspberry, but need to be able to justify the extra cost as they take us right to the top of our budget. So I suppose I want to know from those with experience whether they're really worth it? Are they noticeably different in quality or would I just be paying for a name?

Also, if anyone has any other suggestions for us they would be much appreciated

Thanks
(FWIW, I had a Silvercross 3D last time which my mum bought us and which I didn't get along with at all as was far far too heavy and difficult to manoeuvre. Sold it and bought a Maclaren Quest)

Purely imo the best way to look at it is in terms of what you personally want and need from a pram. If you want and need it to be light, small, suitable from birth, one piece fold with a parent facing seat then the bugaboo bee is almost certainly worth the money for you. If you don't particularly need a small pram or a one piece fold etc. then maybe it isn't.

The armadillo flip looks really interesting, I'm on the fence re the raspberry, I haven't seen one and have heard some muttering about some being returned due to noise issues, the bee 3 looks great, especially if the frame really is firmed up. I really like the evo, I also really like the joie chrome. The baby elegance sketch could work for you, I had one a couple of years ago under a different brand and it was very practical but only on smooth surfaces really. Personally not a huge fan of the oyster, even the 2 but it offers a lot of things and certainly fits your general brief.

I really like the look of the new Bee3, love the carrycot and seat colour choices, plus the frames meant to be sturdier and the hood is bigger too. Very strong contender for us, much lay prefer it to the Icandy raspberry.

Thank you for the replies and the further suggestions

I had a look on iCandy's Facebook page last night and there are a few posts from people complaining about the rattling noise - iCandy seem to be saying it's just the pram's 'acoustics' Also having a further look into it, it doesn't seem that a buggy board will fit, which we will probably need for DD.

Anyway, OH has come home from work earlier than expected so we're off to have a look in the shops later today. Quite keen on the new Bee too.

icandy are awful when there are problems I really would not but anything from them. I bought a cherry a few years back and it broke within 2 months (seat wouldnt lock into position would just randomly recline). They wouldn't listen to me and I ended up losing £350 ish.

If your keen on the evo mothercare currently have it in yellow and black for 249.99 and the carry cot for half price. The pram also come with a free infant carrier car seat too. And they yellow is lovely, I just brought it for my unborn DC2 after having a silver cross 3d. I have to say I love the evo more than the 3d, very easy to fold (one handed), light weight, parent facing and world facing, comes with raincover and footmuff etc x

Acoustics?? Hmmmmmm. ICandy can be very odd about things imo, I don't know that I would discount their products on that basis but even so..

The bee works nicely with a board, I don't know about the evo. The joie chrome was very nice with a buggyboard. I have a somewhat random jane muum here at the moment and that's probably the best thing I have ever used with a board. The pushchair itself is good. Tiggy, queen of mn pushchairs, really rates the oyster with board and I know several other people who say the oyster board is amazing.

If we did buy an iCandy and ran into problems and then had trouble getting them fixed it would pretty much be our worst nightmare (pram wise) tbh so it does make me a bit hesitant.

Well we wasted our time a bit this afternoon anyway. Mothercare had the Evo and Oyster 2 but nobody available to give us a demonstration despite hanging around for ages. And Mamas and Papas had the Bee but the salesgirls told us they hadn't been trained in it and so we spent ten minutes watching them mess around like the Chuckle Beothers trying to switch the seat around

But at least I know what those ones look like now. OH very taken with the Evo after he managed to press a button and fold it down - he thinks it's marvellous. The Oyster 2 seemed a bit heavy? I could see us swapping to the Maclaren with both tbh, not necessarily a problem with the Evo as it's so cheap.

I did like the Bee despite the awkward non demo, except the seat looked very small and couldn't imagine a toddler sitting in it. Can only really justify buying it if it lasts into toddlerdom.

Thanks for the further tips RE the buggy boards and Evo price deal. And sorry for the long ramble!

Bee is ONLY good if you're going to use it on pavements. Very flat pavements. Forget grass or a towpath, and cobbles might well cause it to fall apart altogether.

I have a Bee and still use it with my 2.6 year old. One of the good things about it is you don't have to swap it for a maclaren.

Stokke Scoot was expensive but really is the best thing I could have ever bought. Lightweight, easy to manoeuvre around shops/buses/trains/the tube and huge basket underneath.

With the foot muff and car seat I think it was nearly £1k but I absolutely love it.

Oh, and DD is nearly 18 months now and I think I'm the only one of my friends on the same pram.

Thank you for the further replies. We have very uneven, bumpy pavement near us thanks to tree roots everywhere so not sure about the Bee now. OH is also keen on a carrycot as we are having a winter baby and don't think our budget would stretch to getting one for the Bee.

Littleturkish I haven't looked at Stokke, will have a nosy on bestbuggy once DD is in bed

We had another look at prams today. I'm very very taken with the iCandy Strawberry which wasn't even on my list of prams to look at but I really loved it. It seemed sturdy but not massive. They don't have the Raspberry in stock yet but are going to call when it comes in.

Had another look at the Oyster 2... Feel like I should really like it as it ticks all the boxes for us but I don't and I can't put my finger on why

I had a winter baby and used the cocoon with the Bee and DS was very snug.

We have never regretted our purchase of the Stokke Xplory. I have not seen or pushed anything as good since DD was born 23 months ago.

Have you looked any baby joggers? The versa is reversible and you can get a carrycot for under 6 months. Or a city mini with carrycot? Either will probably last until toddler years and cheapish.

Have a really good think about what you need from a pram first. Forget the brands and the fashion of it.

I walk a lot, most days and often a few miles. I love my Uppababy Vista, but it wouldn't be worth spending that kind of money of I wasn't going to be out walking the pavements very regularly.

Th versa is really seriously good, especially when on offer at £300 ish. I feel the same about the oyster, which I probably wrote up thread actually, it is very good though.

What about an easywalker mosey?

We had a britax thing for ds1 (he is 15 tomorrow!) it won all the other and baby awards, which awards blah blah... Anyway we ended up with a maclaren!

When ds2 was a toddler and I was preg with ds3 we got a bugaboo frog. We still have it nine years later and it's been used by ds2, ds3, ds4 and dd. That along with an instep nipped 360 were good buys.

It depends on your needs tbh ie bus? Or car boot size, ease of folding, how you will store it at home. Where you will use it and how much.

I walk everywhere and have a two mile school run which includes going over a field so that affected my choices.

I found John Lewis staff best for good demonstrations and staff that know products and for after sales care etc.

Thank you again everyone, I'm really appreciating all the advice and suggestions I have had a quick look at the Versa and the Mosey and both look good, also had a look at the Uppababy and liked that too. Have never heard of these brands before, it's all Silver Cross in the shops around here!

I'm really trying to keep my sensible head on over this, plan to have a good look now, try and narrow it down to a few, then come back to it November time and hopefully have a bit of a clearer head and avoid an impulse purchase.

We don't have a car, so mainly walk places but not off road or anything like that. DD starts nursery a few months after baby is due so will have the drop off/pick up too.

OH says I'm over thinking things and that a pram is just a pram

In some respects that is of course entirely true. If you don't want to swap to a stroller in 12-18m then make light and small your priorities, keeping in might you will want it to be reasonable to push if you're walking everywhere, starting nursery/pre school runs etc. How easy something is to push makes a heck of a lot more difference when you're also dealing with a small child on foot, that sounds blindingly obvious but it can be easy to be caught out on smooth showroom floors!

I've had no problems with icandy, they've been great so far, had an issue where I lost my raincover and they got it sorted with no fuss - fortunately I've had no major issues though! My peach3 is well worth the money, especially as it can turn into a double.

[embarrassed] Parties re being the Queen of MN pushchairs!
I think you very much need to look at what you need. I don't think you need to spend lots of money on a pushchair, however, if spending more, means you get what you need, then that's great.

I am a massive iCandy fan, and have had more than a handful of iCandy's. The Raspberry should be my perfect pushchair - I have seen it a few times and really liked what I saw. However, these first production models do seem to have rattling storage pods. They were designed to be storage for raincovers, and other bits and pieces, but without the raincover in e.g. when the raincover is in use, then the rattles seem to start. Someone was telling me only a few minutes ago that they have put some beading on their storage pod and its resolved the issue though....so fingers crossed. I am waiting to find out more.

I have previously had a Scoot and Bee Plus and I am wondering how much different the new versions will be. Paul Stride in York have their Bee3 on their shop floor. I think the better tyres on the Scoot could make it a better option for someone like you. However, I don't like the lack of leg support, and I feel a bit sad that Stokke haven't addressed this.

The Baby Jogger Versa is very difficult to fault, but it is heavy. The Graco Evo does win on weight, and is a very good pushchair. I have had one, and I would certainly recommend it. I love the Evo XT although the seat is very narrow...I was quite shocked how narrow it was, and yet the pushchair itself is quite wide.

However, I think the Oyster 2 is excellent - and especially with a board, this would be my choice. I absolutely can't stand boards on a pushchair - I would rather have a double pushchair - but the Oyster Board works brilliantly. The Oyster 2 seat is really much improved on the old Oyster seat, and I would definitely recommend having a look. Rear air tyres probably a good investment, but the regular wheels are fine.

I love my Easywalker Mini Stroller too - and I think the new Easywalker Mosey is one to look out for.

I think the M&P Armadillo Flip is worth keeping an eye on too. I have an Armadillo City, and if the Flip is like that but with a reversible seat, then it could be excellent.

One final one, look at the Silver Cross Pioneer too, although I am dubious about how much better the handling is. I can't wait to try one out and I have my fingers and toes all crossed that its better than the Wayfarer.

I have a Graco Mirage travel system, £99 and encountered no issues whatsoever

Just read through this and I'd recommend you get a 2nd hand frog or cam as you do a lot of walking you can get them so cheaply 2nd hand now then you could buy a stroller much later on.

I found my frog/cam hybrid fantastic and used it until dd4 was out of puschair it was the only one I could push with a buggy board on the back without it really hurting my back. I just used a lascal maxi rather than the bugaboo one. We did keep a maclaren in the boot of the car for ease but then it was great excuse being a pushchairolic

Just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone for all your input and suggestions, much appreciated

I think I am going to have to compromise on the super lightweight/small front for something that handles the very uneven pavements around here, so no Bee, Raspberry etc. The Graco Evo only takes the Graco car seat which gets bad reviews, and I like the Stokke Scoot but not the lack of leg rest.

Coming round to the Oyster 2 a bit, but when I had a push around in the shop it had a definite veer to the left so I had to use both hands and really will need one hand free to hold DD's. Does anyone know if the air tyres would make a difference to this? Also can the Joie Chrome be pushed one handed?

Buying second hand could also be a good option for us if we couldn't find anything suitable in our price range but would prefer new if we could.

Thanks again