MOUNTAIN BUGGY - CAN YOU HELP ME CHOOOSE!?

[BUSTERTHEDOG]

E3 EXPLORER vs EASYLIFE SPORT vs MOUUNTAIN BUGGY - SOMEONE HELP ME CHOOSE!

My son is 2.5 years old and I want a suitable buggy for walking the dog etc, that will last til he's about 5 if poss.

Which is lightest / best out of these - has anyone pushed them all?

You are safe, hc - I have months to go before I need one, plus we're getting it as a gift I think from all our family in the States (they're cheaper there).

But I get the

oh yeah, i'm hoping to persuade my parents to buy it for us. ds has trashed our current one so badly, & it's too heavy anyway. any excuse....

this is another thread involving MB and has some discussions about the fixed wheel Terrain. Back then you could get a castor wheel to replace the front wheel for shopping which Nigel says isn't available anymore

Still don't know which to order....

Well, IMO the MB Urban copes fine with forest trails and wet grass (like, say Wimbledon Common!), and the swivel wheel is invaluable for round town. The only thing I wouldn't buy it for is if I intended taking it jogging as the wheels are too small (same problem with the Terrain though). In NZ forest trails tend to go up mountains and over boulders, and I think for that you really do need a backpack - but I haven't found UK terrain so rugged! I never lock the wheel either, except maybe on sand.

The Urban is heavier than the Terrain and as it is more complicated, there is the possibility of more things going wrong - FWIW we found the old model's frame tended to "splay" at the back and so you had to kind of push it back together to get the wheels on/ensure the brake worked. They have now got a bar at the back to fix that problem. It is also large when folded down - the Explorer is more compact. But you can't get a buggy board on an Explorer which is a negative when your eldest hits four and doesn't want to go in the buggy but still can't walk very far!

i have the mountain buggy and love it although am selling soon as not been able to use it as ds far too big for it! (coming up to 3 far too long for it but still plenty of room in width and too be honest he just looks silly in it)
as your ds is 2.5 i would seriously consider how much usage you are going to get out of it as they often grow to long for these buggies and then you will have paid out over £400 for a few months use. if you have your heart set on one look at them second hand, unless of course your loaded and then i'd say spens spend spend!

florenceuk, thanks for your post. Just the info charleypops and I needed - at least we now know the Urban can handle 'ordinary parkland' / beaches etc. Now it's just a question of whether the Terrain is so much better on the rough that it's worth going for, or if manoeuvering it in shops is so much more difficult...

vickiyumyum - FYI, the thread is 1 year old ! But thanks for the sizing feedback. Again, FYI, pushchairs.co.uk sell special Mountain Buggies for larger / longer kids ITH.

STILL don't know which to go for. Dp just tried an Urban out in John Lewis which he mainly liked. He didn't like the lack of a bar across the front for the baby to hold onto though or that there's no handbrake. Unfortunately, they don't stock Terrains so he couln't compare.....

cp: the bar across the front for baby is an optional extra: You can buy your way to happiness !

Also, I think if you're not MadJoggerPerson (and apologies in advance if I'm doing your sporting prowess a disservice), you can live without the handbrake. Have you heard otherwise ?

(I know they're optional on the terrain, but they do clog up with mud etc. - that's not to say I wouldn't get one if I went for a Terrain, but I digress )

Just to confuse things: I saw a lady with a Terrain today. She said she LOVED it but was on the phone so couldn't answer my 50 point questionnaire

It looked v. compact and she didn't seem to struggle with the steering at all. I like the fact that it's narrower for doorways too...

Oh, and of course because the design / weight distribution is different (more to back axle than the Urban), I guess it can't be all that hard to get the thing to run around aisles in shops...

Hope you / dh gets your hands on a Terrain so you can put your (my) mind at rest !

Hey: nearly a decision on your nappy thread ! Well done you !

oh yeah so i see, well will look at dates from now on! (sound of wrists being slapped)

Go easy on yourself, vickiyumyum. You could have commited a worse crime - like confessing to owing a Mugaboo Frog.

Anyway, now you're here, don't think you're gonna escape without a grilling:

Is your MB a fixed front wheel (Terrain) or a swivel front wheel (Urban).

CP and I are trying to choose between a fixed and a swivel wheel and wondered how you found it. I think basically we're concerned a fixed wheel will be a pain in the ass in shops, and a swivel wheel (even if locked) might be a bit disappointing in forests etc...

(I'm starting to sound like a broken record. Boring even myself !)

Can you really get a hand rail bar thingy Hub? My goodness! It just gets more and more excitinger

Where did you see this woman with her Terrain? Was she in a shopping or off road envornment?

I can't find anywhere to see a Terrain in the flesh

you couldn't pay me to have a bugaboo! LOL
i have the mb urban with the lockable swivel wheel and we have taken it everywhere.
we have had no problem with it offroad, the only time i needed to lock the wheel was on the pebble beach at brighton. we have been on several walking holidays withit and although if my main activity was to be walking over hill and dale i probably would have chosen the terrain, but as i only really use it for parks and town (shopping) the urban was the best for the job for us.
I borrowde my friends terrain and didn't like the fact that you always had to tip and turn, i preferred the easy steering of the urban.

Bless you, vickiyumyum, with delicious sweets all weekend.

Just what we wanted to hear, right, CP ?????

CP, your nirvana is here - never doubt Uncle Nigel !

CP - this woman was walking and talking on her mobile phone on a little pedestrian road thing, actually more a glorified alley, but quite wide, and I was so excitedy I nearly wet myself. I think she was trying to walk home, certainly trying to walk away from me. Lucky I had dw with me so everyone thinks I'm OK.

When clearly I am not.

Quick H2D look here

Oh lordy! - do I bid, don't I... Are you going to? New this pkg from Nigel is £489+£10 delivery.... the sellers have sent me actual photos of it and it looks fine....

cp - I'm not going to bid.

TBH: This user has only 2 feedback, in last couple of weeks, both on purchases of cheap 20 quid fashion tops.

I'd be wary.

Quite possibly 150% genuine and innocent. But I'd want to collect it / pay cash on sight / talk to vendor on phone etc. Don't think it's worth the risk meself, but maybe you are a more experienced / trusting ebayer than me !

Also price will possibly increase in next few mins.

Good luck.

glad to be of help hub2dee buy a mb and you can't go wrong, i've converted several of my friends who had jane powertracks and e3 so i think that says it all.
just need to persuade hubby to have another ds or dd to use it all over again!

Blimey - went for £400 + £15 delivery At least we know they've a healthy resale value!

Please has ANYONE here used a Terrain??? I'm losing sleep....

vicky - I had to persuade my dp that we would get better use from a MB than a Powertrack, which we were initially going to buy. They seem great, but I was always worried that we would damage it with too much off roading.

I know you didn't really get on with your friend's Terrain, but did you find it pretty light and easy to tilt and turn - the sort of thing you could get used to? Would you have been able to cope with it maybe once or twice a week pottering round the shops?

Sorry - must be a bit like an inquisition...

i have used a terrain but only for a short period of time (one week) and what i used it for the urban coped easily as well as the urban and i preferred the swivel wheel for easy steering.
we only used the terrain to the local postofiice, around town, to the local park and to a country park so although had slightly rough terrrain not really off roading it.
i can only say taht after using the terrain i decided that i much preferred the urban and my friend who has the terrain, kept asking me if i wanted to swap. but then the most off roading she does is to the park with the dogs.

oops should have said terrain urban would have coped easily as well as the terrain.

the terrain is still a great buggy and if they hadn't have made an urban then i would definatley have brought the terrain.
i am abit of a buggyaholic and have had the powertrack 360 and a quinny freestyle and a cheapo mothercare one! the jane is great around town but i thought that it felt too flimsy for off road. the few times i used it off road, when it came across a stumbling block didn't cope as well as mb! the quinny only had a tilting wheel so was cumbersome to steer and the mothercare one was great for all uses, although i felt that for longevity (i am hoping to use the mb for a 2nd child in the future) that the mb stood up to the test of time.

Thanks vicki! just one last titchy question - did you find the Terrain difficult if you had to weave in and out of oncoming pedestrian traffic. Sorry! promise, no more questions after this one