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Original poster

Calling all Bugaboo fans (and hunker munker too!)

55 replies

Cadmum · 02/04/2007 21:50

What is the appeal?

Do the baby/toddler's legs have to be in a sitting position in the seat even when t is fully 'reclined'?

Is it easy to fold?

Does it manage kerbs well? Cobble stones?

OP posts:
FirstAtForty · 03/04/2007 16:59

Definitely worth a try of your friend's if that's an option. I've got a Techno XT as well and although I love it for maneovrability and ease of folding the downside as you know is that it's practically impossible to see your lo unless you walk round in front of it (difficult to do when you're pushing ). I use it when folding space is really an issue (eg if car boot is full of other stuff) and when I know I'm going to be in really small shops or anywhere indoors that's tight for space.

I've just bought a second hand Cameleon but haven't had a chance to try it out properly yet. Got it because I wanted rear facing and it seems to be the narrowest model that does this - width is an issue because the shops are really pokey where I am.

I don't think it's particularly fugly btw, though I wouldn't care if it was as long as it did what I wanted it to!

Original poster
Cadmum · 03/04/2007 17:32

Thanks mars... And sorry for leaving you out!

Missdee: Interesting info about poor HM's wee boys.

OP posts:
misdee · 03/04/2007 17:35

cadmum was teasing. she had a jane and double maclaren when i saw her

Original poster
Cadmum · 03/04/2007 19:39

Missdee: too bad you were joking... I was just about to ask for advice about getting my dd2 to crawl behind (or is it ahead of?) me.

I am about to google Jane because I need somthing better than this XT...

OP posts:
hippipotami · 03/04/2007 19:41

I loved my Techno XT when I had one a few years ago for DD. I do look longingly at the Bugaboos as due to the adjustable handle it is perfect for a 6ft something like me.

However, no baby plans, so just looking at buggies for the fun of it

I actually like the look of the Bub now, but it took some time to grow on me.

Sigh.... is it wrong to want another baby just because you want another buggy???

hippipotami · 03/04/2007 19:41

buG, not buB

issyissyissy · 04/04/2007 11:02

So which is the perfect stroller? Is there one?

pinkchampagne · 04/04/2007 11:08

I think the bugaboo pushchairs look a bit like a golf trolley!
I'm sure they are more practical then the great big nightmare of a Mammas and Pappas pram I had though!

Original poster
Cadmum · 04/04/2007 12:33

I wish that there was a perfect one but then again we would all look mighty odd if we opted for the same buggy. (especially if we had our babies on the same strict schedule...)

It must surely depend on your needs as much as your height etc. I ca't imagine a huge pram for someone who takes the bus every day for example.

OP posts:
hippipotami · 04/04/2007 15:33

I don't think there is ONE specific perfect buggy.
I am 6ft1, so what could be the perfect buggy for someone who is 5ft7, for me it would be a back-breaker.
Those who walk long distances would probably only entertain solid, suspension type prams, someone who lives in the city and exclusively uses public transport probably wants something small and light.

For me, I need something with an adjustable handlebar that goes up very high, lightweight and manoevreable to handle shops (local shops are tiny!), lightweight for putting in the boot of the car, and with wheels big enough to handle the local woods / common land when walking the dog.

But as dh has drawn the line under any more babies, my quest for the perfect buggy is a futile exercise... (but I can always dream...)

Kentyville · 04/04/2007 16:54

Hi Buggy-watchers

We're first timers just back from our John Lewis nursery tour and went to Mamas and Papas too. (Phew, time for a lie down!) Had been planning to go for the Maclaren XT but now not sure as also have a thing about wanting to see LO.

Impressed today by the Mamas and Papas Mod+ which is lighter than the M & P pramette but works the same way i.e. LO faces you and lies flat for first few months then flips round to normal buggy. Also felt slightly better steering than the Maclaren, and a bit more storage underneath.

Just seen online the Hauke's Infinity which seems to fit the bill in terms of buggy flipping to face parent or away. But weighs 11kg - M & P just 8.2, MacL 7.8!

Anyone tried the Mod+ or the Hauke's and have any comments? Some people say you'll just keep LO in the sling for the first three months anyway and by then he/she would rather look around at the world than have to look at parent all the time!

Sorry that turned into a long posting. Got buggies on the brain. Love to hear your thoughts!

FirstAtForty · 04/04/2007 17:14

Kentyville - it?s boggling isn?t it!
Personally I wouldn?t rely on a sling for all your needs for 3 months, though there are those that do. You have to be pretty fit (which most people don?t feel for a while afterwards, esp if you have a CS) and bear in mind that for trips into town etc you?ll be carrying changing stuff for the baby as well as your shopping? so unless you have a helper that?s quite a lot to lug around. There was a thread on this very subject not long ago, if you do a title search for ?sling? it may come up.

My LO is 8 months and seems to enjoy rear facing, though to be fair she never seems bothered when front facing either! But I like to see her and keep an eye on what she?s up to

Apparently the Mothercare Maui is exactly the same as a Hauck Infinity so you could have a look ?in the flesh? in Mothercare.

Don?t have any experience of the Mod+. Really it depends on your priorities and budget as different types of pram offer different benefits. I?d recommend not going overboard on buying a brand new expensive one until you are sure, and if you do want to spend a lot of money then it is worth considering what the resale value on ebay would be. Buy or borrow a second hand one for a short while, you won?t be short of buggy buying opportunities in the future (I?m still going at 8 months )

Sunyshineymummy · 04/04/2007 17:20

Love my bug and don't find it ugly at all. Good things - manoeverability (sp), versatility, big shopping basket, v. comfy (DS still sleeps in his when I take him out in it at 12m), extending handle.
Bad things - folding into two pieces. Takes up a lot of space in the car boot (we've bought a Quinny Zapp to keep in the car to solve this).

issyissyissy · 04/04/2007 18:17

Like Hippopotami, I want one that is easy to put in car, can steer round shops and go for walks in the woods. have yet to find the one, but enjoying the search. Am now a self confessed pramaholic!! For my first born , ds, I had a m+p travel system which i really loved until he was 2 and too big, although still needed something. I dont like the small strollers as find them hard to steer and too prone to tipping.
Now on second child and have a big 3 wheeler which is fantastic, but too big to take on plane or in and out of car. I do think it is important to have the baby facing you as the interaction is so precious and just lovely. My search contiunes

Kentyville · 04/04/2007 21:28

Thanks FirstAtForty - good advice. Seems like working out what's right for each family is a bit of an evolving process. Do feel like I'd like LO to face me a bit longer than 4 months though.

AitchTwoOh · 04/04/2007 21:33

i've got a jane carrera and a jane nomad. love them both, but i do wish that the baby was still facing me. that said, she seems delighted not to see my ugly mug. plus the carrera is pretty minimal in terms of the hood so you can chat over the top of it. my SIL is getting an i-candy, they turn both ways. and i think the bugaboo looks good, actually, but there are flipping thousands of them where i live and i just couldn't...

horsemadgal · 05/04/2007 22:13

Aitch, is your Carrera as easy to push as the Nomad?
I'm hankering after one.
M x

AitchTwoOh · 05/04/2007 23:34

easier, if anything, i really like it. but there's something about the hood i'm not in love with so i'd say it's more a summer buggy than a winter one. but if you've got a nomad then you are well set for winter anyway. it doesn't fold up as small as a mclaren, either, but i like the single handle and the fact that if there is ever a baby no 2 then i'll be able to swap the carseats into the buggies.

horsemadgal · 06/04/2007 19:59

Aitch, see I have the Nomad and the Powertrack already and can't justify having both (well I can, DH can't!!)
Was thinking I'd sell one and get a Carrera.
DS is 3 so think I'll just be using it this summer, so not really worried about hood.
Thanks, M x

AitchTwoOh · 06/04/2007 21:08

i'd be interested to know which one you'd get rid of...

my sil is buying an i-candy, does anyone rate them? they look v jolly i think.

fizzipop · 08/04/2007 08:47

aitch - my friend is buying an i.candy. I think the apple one looks really like the bugaboo, but they are 10kg, heavier than bugaboo. My friend is buying the cherry one I think, only 5kg! She was told they are the best value for money as they apparently 'do and have everything you need'.

AitchTwoOh · 08/04/2007 11:38

i think sil is getting the apple. tbh i think she's just getting it cos she wants a bugaboo but there are too many of them about. i'm seeing her today, i'll find out about the cherry. am i the only person who doesn't really care about the weight of the buggies, btw? i roll mine...

FirstAtForty · 10/04/2007 16:27

Well I've had a chance to try out the Cameleon now on a long shopping trip into town (by car), a semi-off road walk and general walking around pavements etc.

imho it's the ultimate shopping pram! MUCH easier in narrow aisles than the Buzz (my other pram) and the basket holds loads. Seat is easy to tip from lying down to upright, (easier than the Buzz which has fiddly stiff knobs).

Downsides:

  • slightly more awkward at mounting kerbs than I expected because of the two front wheels which you can't see when pushing, so a bit tricky to judge. Nothing major though.
  • I think it's not so good on off-road surfaces as the Buzz, (though they both have small solid front wheels and air tyres at the back). The Buzz does seem more solid and bouncy somehow, and the front wheels are slightly bigger. The Bugaboo feels a little rickety in comparison. I took the Bugaboo over some stone chippings in a car park, had to tip it onto the back tyres as the front wheels couldn't cope at all. Still at least you can do this, a stroller with solid wheels would have just ground to a halt.
  • bloomin folding mechanism, quite temperamental in that sometimes it works fine first time, other times it doesn't . The Buzz is also hard to fold down but very easy to unfold.
  • no good if you had to fold it in a bus

Apart from the above I love it! It takes up less room than the Buzz in the boot as well.

fizzipop · 14/04/2007 09:11

firstatforty - with a bugaboo the idea is to swivel the handlebars when you go off roading so that the big tyres are at the front, you can also use just the two big wheels if you are on sand etc, I've never done it myself, but it's all in the info manual you get with it.

FirstAtForty · 14/04/2007 22:52

ah okay, I knew you could do that but was not sure why. Actually I did it by mistake the other day - set the pram up for my MIL to push and put the big wheels at the front by mistake. It wasn't off road but it did make the pram really hard to steer, it veered about like an out of control shopping trolley! She said 'I didn't like to say but I wasn't very impressed by your new pram' lol

Still liking the Cameleon though, so it's Ebay for the Buzz...

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