The new Phil & Teds Vibe - has anyone tried it?

[loucee]

I was in a pram shop today and saw the new Phil and Teds Vibe, the shop assistant said its very similar to the old Phil and Teds E3/Sport but is the latest design.
HAs anyone tried it? I realy liked it but it was a bit larger than my Sport (not wider just taller and a bit longer) but I loved the brake and the folding mechanism and thought the hood and windshield were far improved.The aluminium chasis made it a lot lighter to lift as well.

It was priced at 485 for the pram,doubles kit and double rain cover so its not cheap but I am really tempted to sell my sport and upgrade.

Interested in your opinions on the pram

Hi loucee,
Have ordered one of these, just waiting for delivery to have a look.
Improvements which sold me are:
Sunhood looks like it covers child much better, I have also seen a picture where it flips to the front part of the buggy.
The straps which hold the child in look more user friendly and can be quickly adjusted to any child. How I hate the straps on my E3.
The brake looks easier to use.
The shopping basket is more accessible.
The back seat reclines like the sport.
The back seat folds into the buggy so no need to take it off to fold.
The seats look far more comfortable.
Can't wait until shop gets delivery!!!

We have got one...

to be honest it is'nt worth the wait nor the money you'll spend for it over here in the UK...
We had a friend of ours who went on a shopping trip to NY who kindly brought one over for us...
We paid 468 for it which included the doubles kit the cocoon and a double storm cover...
The first day we had it I managed to break it.. the locking system on this buggy is very flimsy, it has 2 clips - one on either side - which you need to flip over to lock the buggy in place - beit folded up or open ready for use - Anyway, when we folded the buggy up and tryied to lock it in place one of the clips gave and a bit of plastic came off, so now , although the buggy still locks ok, the clip wobbles...
Further more the doubles kit clips in place on top of the buggy when used in conjunction with the cocoon - this is also quite an art to get placed without scratching the surface of the buggy...which by the way scratches very easily...
I contacted out and about about the clasp as I believe this should be a warranty fix and they are not interested - nice supplier they are, we complained to Phil and Ted directly about them - still need to see what comes back...
So to sum it up... Yes the buggy looks nice and can be folded up with the doubles kit in place - which by the way you need to move each time from one position to another when used with the cocoon - and yes the wheel lock system is much better than on previous models...
However it is not worth the money, its flimsey - still quite bulky so if you have a small boot on your car think twice - We have a Rav4 and it takes up much of the bootspace... Also there is hardly any space for your shopping and other bags which are needed when you have little'ens...
Hope that gives you a bit of a heads up on this buggy...

It loos nice, saw one the other day, sunhood def improved but is bigger i think, would want to see it folded.

Hello, I went to look at the weekend, and ordered one. I was concerned about the fold as I had heard it can be a pain and yes, it wasn't the most elegant thing in the world but it was ok. I think all double buggies have some annoyances, it is finding the one that best suits your lifestyle. I went for this one and not the older style phil n teds because my toddler's head hit the hood and he looked squashed in that one and in this one he looked comfy.

I've got one and love it!!!!

thanks for your replies, I'm going to try and find a stockist of the other new models as well so I can try them out in the shop with the DC.

The Dash looks like it might be better for me - looks like the "old" P&T but has the new brake and the plastic footwell (DD is always stopping the pram by pushing feet down in the footwell onto the front wheel)

Interesting Annwoo that you dont find the basket on the old P+T very accessible - I think its fine when you undo the poppers

Hi Loucee

What shop did you say you saw that package for £485 as it seems a brilliant price form what I can find on the net. Would also like to go a try it out in the flesh as we do not seem to have a store round us that stocks it?

Hi Briwish

It was the Glasgow Pram Centre that quoted that price to me, admittedly they didn't have a price card made up as it was so new in store (there was only one assistant who vaguely knew how to operate it as well as it was so new in). Think the price was £399 for the pram, £69 for doubles and £17 for the raincover

Thanks Loucee - I have phoned them and the price appears to have gone up. However it seems to be around what everyone else is offering.

I'll be really interested to see what you all think when you receive it as have been considering the icandy pear and another pushchair but they both appear to be a lot heavier than the Vibe. However, I would have preferred a pushchair where the baby could face me. Another issue I have is that they do not seem to have considered the need for a travel system so that it is possible to fit a car seat to the Vibe. Apparently they have just introduced the car seat adaptor for the Sport so it will be interesting to see how soon this modification will be developed for the Vibe.

I've ordered the vibe too and can't wait for it to arrive but am feeling a bit worried by some of the bad reviews I have seen on the net. I know that one buggy won't suit everyone but it seems to get such extremes in reviews from 1/10 to 10/10, what is that about?!

It's a lot of money to have spent if I hate it. I would have got the sport but I don't like the harness fastening, really stiff brake and the low sunshade. DD is tall and come July when she would have to be in doubles kit there would be no room for her. Also vibe folding with doubles kit on, brake on handle and lower weight all did it for me.

I'll just have too wait and see and hope that I love it, it's just as well my husband doesn't know how much it costs!

Picked my new vibe up today and at the mo I love it.

Children look far more comfy, ds has more room in front, dd in back also has more room.
Harness on seats are much easier to adjust/use
Sun hood covers child much more
Shopping basket doesn't look any more accessible but will have to use it properly to see
Brake in better position
Didn't find the different buggy positions that difficult, (tried them all out in the shop before I bought it) although will have to get used to the different way if collapses down.

Will post if I find any negatives to help those still deciding

Sorry Briwish, maybe I got the price wrong? (Although like I said it was just in at the GPC so maybe the assistant quoted me wrong, I wasn't a serious customer).

annwoo glad you like yours, I've decided to stick with my sport until I can see the Dash model in the flesh so I can weigh them all up against one another.

Mine has come now, I've been playing with it all morning

I like the seats, nice, big, comfy (the main advantage). The break is really good, the raincover is better than I thought it was going to be.

It feels like the claim that it folds with the doubles seat on is a bit of a con...when the doubles seat is on the front you have to have it in the top position to fold. The problem is that I think nearly everyone will be using the lower of the two poitions to maximise room for the toddler, so you end up taking the seat off then putting it back on. When the doubles seat is on the back you have to shove it under the top seat to fold it and it is really arkward to do, all in all more trouble than it's worth.

Overall I really like it though and it fits in our house when no other double would.

I don't know if anyone is still referring to these comments when considering a Vibe, but I would advise anyone against buying one.
I have just sold mine after a few months use as I was really disappointed with it.
In just 7 months I had to have the rear wheels replaced as they wore down to the thread and the fabric was fraying on the doubles seat. Although the retailer that I bought the buggy from was great, P & Ts service is very poor. Friends with sports + vibes that have sent things back (common theme?) all suffer long waits with no apologies.
The frame is brushed aluminium and no matter how careful you are it scratches, unlike Bugaboo frames. The double seat has scratched badly where I insert it into the mechanism that holds it in place.
The shopping basket is really inaccessible, I use it a lot but the frame is completely in the way so putting large items in is very tricky.
Also it is bulky, it is 64 cms wide at the wheels and makes it hard to get through some doors ( I have been stuck a couple of times!). The sport is much slimmer.It is easy to push but not so easy to turn.
However it does look very nice........I now have a Dash on order, cheaper but as comfy for little ones but as practical as a Sport.

Hiya,
I've recently bought a phil & teds vibe - does anyone have a problem with the front wheel, if it's facing the wrong way you end up going backwards and forwards! It's not getting stuck, just prefers to stay in a certain direction.

I'm really struggling with it, especially in shops where you turn a lot.

I dont know if it's cos i'm 8 mths pregnant and find it heavy or just not used to a 3 wheeler? It's very frustrating. apart from that I love it. Bit big though.

Hi, our front wheel didn't work properly in the swivel mode when we sticked it in in the wrong direction. When I removed the wheel and made sure that for the swiveling bit it was stuck in with the longer part of the mud gard at the front it worked far better. Hope this makes sense!

@josephines2 (and anyone else having this problem...) - we had terrible problems with the front wheel not going in the right direction - took off the front wheel and sprayed some Pledge furniture polish in there and now it's much better.

Before the thought of steering it one handed was just impossible - now it's a doddle...

We have just ordered the VIBE. I tried my 22 moth old in the dash and his head hit the hood already. Not expecting for another 5 months and felt the lack of head room was unacceptable.
The vibe has 2 different seat positions when toddler on top and the hood hieght itself is adjustable.
I do wish the brushed aluminium was not easily sctratched and I have heard reviews that the tyres wear through quickly however, my main priority is for the comfort of my chidren and being due in November that I can protect them both from the rain.
We also only have a narrow hall way which this will fit through.

Like someone else said, I don't think there is anything perfect out there and you have to compromise to suit your situation the best.

Please please consider the head height on the DASH.

I bought my vibe in Jan 2010 and have just taken delivery of the 3rd new chassis and 3rd front wheel. All in all a very poor experience. Front wheel locking and P&T damaging the chassis twice on return due to poor packaging and handling.The annoying thing this time is they have sent the vibe back without harness straps So I still can't use the pram. The pram was returned on two separate occasions from p&t damaged in other ways than the repair it was sent in with. Their repairers are incompetent and the service very slow. I had to go through the retailer Precious Little Ones to sort out these ongoing issues who quite frankly were as useless. It apparently took them over a week to get my buggy to P&T after ignoring it in their warehouse for 14 days. The list goes on but my experience has taught me that the vibe is not worth the money and to avoid buying anything from Precious Little Ones