Off-road buggy that converts to double?

[bananallamas]

Hi all

We want to get a buggy for off road use, going walking in the woods, bumpy tracks etc. We had a second hand baby jogger running buggy which we were pretty happy with but then we left it in the shed at Christmas and the shed leaked and... well now it is growing things.

However we are thinking about TTC baby 2 soon and so there's no point in buying an off-road buggy that can only ever hold one child. My eldest has a gross motor delay due to hypermobility so she will be in a buggy for walks until at least 3. But I don't want to buy a double buggy now, and there's no guarantee that we will fall pregnant again so I wouldn't want a double buggy as a constant reminder if we did struggle to conceive.

Sorry for waffling. So, does anyone know of a good single all terrain or off-road/jogger buggy that can easily convert to a double at some point later? Thanks :-)

Ha, just realised I wrote "my eldest". I don't have a second yet! Wishful thinking maybe.

We have the joolz geo which has been well tested on country walks this week and has really done the job off road.

I don’t think the perfect buggy for you exists really. However a decent substitute would be the Joolz Geo. It’s fairly decent at off road, but is very heavy, especially if you put the second seat on. I always favour my Baby Jogger GT rather than the Joolz.

Have you thought about looking second hand? You could get a Baby jogger city mini GT for about £150 now for your eldest. Then if you do need a double I recommend the Out and About Nipper which is about £180 second hand. Would be much cheaper than buying a new Joolz Geo which for the 2 seat system is going to cost you about £1000!

You could have baby in a sling and eldest in the baby jogger while you decided whether you actually needed the double.

Just avoid a buggy board if possible, unless you are on a smooth straight pavement they are useless!

Also, if you have only just started trying then it’s probably going to be a year or so before you have a newborn baby. Therefore I would definitely get something that suits you now rather than think too far ahead. You can change again if a newborn arrives and buying second hand will keep the costs down. Look at the specific groups on Facebook for the type of buggy you decide.

Thanks, sounds like the Joolz is worth looking at but I am wondering if it's better to buy second hand. But I'm not sure if it will be worth it if we only use it for less than a year, fingers crossed. Although I guess I could sell it on after?

Phil and teds! Ive dragged mine across beaches, mud, parks, canal tow paths you name it! I highly suggest buying tyre sealant so that the tyres don't burst. They can be used as a single and a double.

Phil and Teds - they do loads of styles and colours and accessories.
Mountain buggy - really light and comfortable.
Both of these convert to doubles and go off road.

Would the mountain duet single to double meet your requirements. My friend has it as a double and it’s brilliant off road.

uk.mountainbuggy.com/products/duet-as-a-single

The out n abouts are very reasonably priced even new. You could buy a single and a double for the price of the Joolz I would guess? To be honest I would do that otherwise it’s a permanent compromise!

We have the double out n about. Once my eldest finally starts walking reliably I’m going to sell it and buy the single version!

Was just going to suggest the mb duet. We had an older model for our twins it went everywhere and I used it to run with as well. The one we had you could have as a single with a shopping bag on the side or as a double. It was also very thin compared to other doubles and was fine though most doors and on buses etc

I love our out n about double nipper but it's a side by side so not suitable for you now. Also have a Phil and teds which was great when the baby was small, but then I much preferred the out n about when the youngest started to get a bit bigger.

Would definitely recommend buying second hand. I spent hundreds of pounds on a travel system when my first baby was born, but it's the ones I've bought second hand since then that I've much preferred and got most use out of.

Mountain buggy duet- amazing. Well balanced, handles really well, and mountain buggy last so well. It does really well on off road and park walks and still great around town too.

I have an out n about and it's amazing!

We've got a 21 month old and a newborn and bought a mountainbuggy duet. It's amazing on bumpy ground, I can't wait to take it up the peaks when we're allowed to again. We've mainly tested it across fields and woodland so far.

Also to add to how wonderful the duet is my twins have hypermobilty too so we're in it until 3 and a half Ish and both fitted fine. Also just to reassure you in the hypermobilty front they are almost 7 now and are much better walkers stamina wise than lots of their peers.

Love our MB Duet. I have a 7 month old and a lazy four year old who hops in and out of it as he pleases.

It's great for the Forest and pavements, super light and easy to manoeuvre.

Once normality resumes and DS1 is back at preschool, or at school I'll take off the second seat and add in the shopping bag.

Bought the buggy second hand on Facebook marketplace for £100 and it's the best £100 I've spent in a long time!

Thanks everyone, I have looked at the mountain buggy duo and it does look good. However I can see that almost being an all rounder single/double buggy, but I already have an uppababy that we use day to say that is good for town and on pavements. We mainly chose it because our house is tiny and it's really compact and folds very small too. So I'm not sure whether getting a MB duo would mean I was basically replacing the uppababy and just having one pushchair going forwards.

Alternatively I could keep the Uppababy for day to day use and then get a single off-road/jogger buggy for my daughter now and then get a double if we have another baby. I'm not sure if the uppababy converts to a double, I'd have to check. Then I could go back to using the single buggy when my daughter is old enough not to need one? Argh not sure what's best option.

@clareykb thanks for the reassurance about hypermobility, and glad your twins are doing well :-) we are having physio now and within three weeks of starting she has learnt to crawl! But walking is still a way off