Cheap 3 wheelers - good or gimmick?

[BadHair]

I don't mean the top of the range things, but the run-of-the-mill high street type. I've done my mumsnet products research and the urban detour comes out tops. Are these really good off the beaten track, or are they like a cheap jeep - cool in town but cr*p on anything harder than grass?
I've got my eye on one of the older urban detours, the ones with the back wheels bigger than the front one. Has anyone got one of these, and would you recommend it?

BadHair, I've got one which I have had for the past three years. It has been used for two children and in the main has been very good. Any minor problems I have encountered (broken rain cover, wobbly front wheel, missing screws) have been fixed by the staff in Mothercare straight away. Despite this mine is really now on it's last legs. We use ours off road as well as on, and I think since we started to do this the frame of the pram has become very loose. Also for proper off roading it is quite heavy which makes it difficult to control on slopes for example. I would recommend the Urban Detour for light terrain use but for anything else I would be inclined to look for something lighter.

I've got one, and it was brilliant off road. Went on fields, down steps, everything really well.
hasn't lasted particularly well though - its now in the garage looking a bit sad as we try to decide whether to have it mended (new swivel front wheel as the old one has somehow got bent - probably in the move, and the folding mechanism has also been affected by the frame getting a bit twisted) or whether to buy another for the next one. So if you want it to last 2 kids, might be worth paying more (though two urban detours cost the same as one posh one, so might as well ahve a new one the second time really!). Other than the lasting issue, would recommend it.

sorry forgot to sya how long i've had it - 2 years before the probs started (as I say, may have been moving htat caused them, i don't know). Used it offroad every day for those two years though - got to work and nursery via very rough terrain 'footpath' on a very steep hill!