Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Shopping

From everyday essentials to big purchases, swap tips and recommendations. For the best deals without the hassle, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

What's the fuss about bugaboos ?

125 replies

MamanFlo · 10/03/2005 15:45

Hello !
I am in the very long and painful process of buying a pram/pushchair and I see lots of young mums with Bugaboos (I live in Notting Hill !) ...they are definitely not cheap but they are supposed to be among the best...

can someone tell me why ?

thanks for your help !

Flo

OP posts:
lockets · 10/03/2005 15:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Gem13 · 10/03/2005 16:21

I like the look of them because they are one of the few rear facing pushchairs. The carrycot is a good size too (although low).

lulupop · 10/03/2005 23:04

Practically any 3-in-1 travel system is a rear facing pushchair. Almost all have the option of which way round to have the seat. It's just that the Bugaboo is the latest celebrity-endorsed thing.

Have a look on ebay - there are loads of much better (IME) pushchair options for a fraction of the price.

wheresmyfroggy · 11/03/2005 00:00

It seemed to go crazy after the first pictures of Apple Martin were taken and they had a bugaboo!

Personally they feel awkward to push, look not very comfortable for new borns, are ridiculously expensive and to be perfectly honest as a man i would feel a bit of a pratt pushing one around (Dont know why, they just don't strike me as a particularly manly pushchair)

nightowl · 11/03/2005 00:53

whats a bugaboo?!

Cristina7 · 11/03/2005 00:59

Flo, I'd never heard of them before. IMO a pram isn't really worth the money as it hardly gets used beyond the first very few months and it takes up a lot of space in storage afterwards. Better get a pushchair/buggy/stroller that is light-weight and easy to maneouvre. If you're tall or have a tall partner then high handlebars would be best. At the same time, prams can look rather nice and why not be extravagant if you can afford it?

Chuffed · 11/03/2005 09:33

Flo get a mountain buggy - they are the rolls royce of 3 wheelers and I love mine. I personally think the seats on the bugaboo looks awfully uncomfortable.

Sallie · 11/03/2005 13:03

Agree - can't speak highly enough about the Mountain Buggy.

lockets · 11/03/2005 13:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

blueteddy · 11/03/2005 13:36

I think they look quite ugly personally!
The stars that own one, probably got them for free to try and promote them & it has worked!!!!
Cannot believe how expensive they are & agree that they do not seem worth the money.

louloubelle · 11/03/2005 13:55

Or I have a Jane Powertrack 360, which is excellent. I slightly disagree about the lack of use for the pram bit...I had a January baby who was quite little at 6 1/2 lbs, and she used the carrycot option on the Jane for many months. Don't forget, whatever you buy you may well end up buying a lightweight buggy at about 6 months as well...I swore I wouldn't, and did!!

blueteddy · 11/03/2005 14:00

I swore that I wouldn't get a lightweight buggy for ds1 & by the time he was 5 months old I was straight off to mothercare to buy one!!!

Chuffed · 11/03/2005 14:41

Can I ask how light a 'lightweight' buggy is though as aren't they about 5-6kg?

lockets · 11/03/2005 14:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

hub2dee · 11/03/2005 16:53

mugaboo.

MunchedTooManyMarsLady · 11/03/2005 16:56

the phil and ted is the ugliest buggy that I've seen. How does baby 2 see anything? Yuk. Don't do it lockets

Mud · 11/03/2005 16:56

get a mclaren tecno xt they're £99 on kiddicare and are perfect IMHO

tassis · 11/03/2005 17:26

Apparently (I think I read it on here!) the bubaboo did really badly in the Which report.

Mud · 11/03/2005 17:28

I just googled those

they are the stupidest looking buggy I wouldn't be seen in public with one and they seem incredibly heavy too

pinkmama · 11/03/2005 18:18

I looked at teh bugaboo the other day out of interest as I had heard so much about it, but just came across tonnes of really bad reviews, not much good was said about it at all. Agree with lockets, sallie and chuffed re the mountain buggy. I really didnt want a 3 wheeler with ds, but dh desperately did, did eventually relent and the mountain buggy and very glad indeed. It is fab, saw ds through till 3 (still in it) and is in excellent condition for when the new baby arrives. We trashed our first mama and papas pram which we got for dd, it fell apart in no time!

vickiyumyum · 11/03/2005 21:20

hi talking as a buggyaholic, i had the bugaboo from birth and disliked it so much, the handle too low(i'm 5'8 and DH 5'10, problems folding for the car, carrycot very low on chassis and the list goes on, i promptly sold it on ebay and some fool payed more for it second hand than if they had brought it from the shop! i have also had both the jane powertrack 360 and the mountain buggy urban, my favourite is the mountain buggy which i still have and use frequently, but the jane was fantastic as a travel system because the car seat lays flat and faces you.
my current fave is the micralite which ia great although only suitable from around 6 months, although they do now do a carrycot and carseat, but haven't tried these as DS now 18 months old.
my advise is buy the bugaboo if you are rich as it is a buggy that makes people look, (some with envy! LOL!) and be resigned to the fact that you will buy another buggy after approx, 3 months, or buy a cheaper buggy and have fun without feeling so guilty that you spent too much, but personally i wouldn't buy another bugaboo if you paid me to!
p.s also the mountain buggy and the jane in my opinion would definatly last for more than one child.

Teaandcake · 17/03/2005 15:28

Hello, this is my first post on Mumsnet, so, here goes.

I work in a nursery equipment shop and sell most of the products discussed on MN. We sell loads of Bugaboos, Jane Powertrack 360s, Mountain Buggy Urbans and Maclarens.

Just a few of my own observations; people buy Bugaboo Frogs based on their relatively light weight. They are fiddly to fold/unfold until you get used to them, then its really easy. We never see any returns for repairs. They are really expensive though.

Jane Powertrack 360; very popular, fairly expensive, virtually all of them (or so it seems) come back with problems: broken car seat connectors and front wheel wobble (to name a couple). Also, in my opinion, the Matrix car seat is ridiculously heavy and cumbersome, and a real faff to click on and off the chassis.

Mountain Buggy Urban; fantastically simple and easy to use, nobody has managed to wreck one yet so we don't see them for repairs at all. The only isuue I have with it is that the seat has no padding, this is very easily solved with a buggy lambskin though. Quite pricey, but worth it.

Maclaren Techno; the no faff option. Suitable from birth as it lies virtually flat (again, it needs a lambskin or really cosy footmuff to make it friendly to tiny babies). Folds to a very reasonable size and is quite lightweight. Interestingly, second and third time mothers buy more of these than any others, having made mistakes in the past with big, heavy travel systems.(Also the cheapest at £160.00 inc the raincover)

One last thing to consider, the Bugaboo, Jane and Mountain Buggy all have air tyres, which at some stage will have a puncture or go down. The tyres are not covered by the manufacurers warranty, so, they require a little extra maintenance by the owner.

Phew, hope that wasn't too long. Would love to hear what you all think.

Chuffed · 17/03/2005 15:37

Good reviews teaandcake. With the urban we do have a sheepskin agree with the no padding thing. How light is the bugaboo as the Jane and Mountain Buggy Urban are very light.
We saw the 2005 models of the Mountain Buggy at the baby show at the end of last year and they now have a bit of padding so seem to have solved that one.

Teaandcake · 17/03/2005 16:18

Ooh not seen the new Mountain Buggys yet, sounds good though.

The Bugaboo is light compared to many others, not entirely sure of the user weight but the whole package weight is 13kg (ie in the box). The carrycot or seat unit has to come off before the chassis can be folded. In effect, this means you don't have to lift the whole pram into the boot of the car at once. You lift off the carrycot or seat, put in the car first, then, fold the chassis and lift it in separately. Some people love this, it makes the weight manageable, some people hate this, they just want to fold the whole thing, throw in in the boot and go. Pretty much unworkable on buses. Once you master the chassis folding, it is easy to use, the carrycot/seat unit is very light and simple to click on to the chassis as is the car seat.

The Bugaboo's downfall is the price. The pram is at the top end of scale already, then there is the cost of their accessories - unbeleivable!

The other big seller of the moment is the Bebe Confort Loola. Very compact when folded, probably the nearest competitor to the Bugaboo. Some good features: the seat can be set up so that baby faces mummy, car seat easy to fit to chassis, good suspension and solid rubber tyres (no punctures).
The downside: the seat unit reclines but does not lay completely flat (there is a carrycot for newborns instead).

I just love prams, does it show?

WestCountryLass · 17/03/2005 20:47

And what about the Stokke buggy? I have seen a few of those around, they look like shopping trolleyes to me!