MacLaren Volo

[Claireandrich]

Does anyone have any experience of this stroller? We have a rather lovelt 3 wheeler pushchair but are going on holiday int he summer. As our pushchair was pretty dear we don't want it to get spoilt so have been looking for a suitable stroller. I saw the Volo in Mothercare today nd it looks pretty good, although a little dearer than some at £50. It was very light - some strollers aren't much lighter than our 3 wheeler. DD seemed to find it comfortable also.

We want something very lightweight, easy to use, reasonable comfy and not any bright colours/fancy patterns. Doesn't need to lie down or need accessory bits.

Anyone used the Volo? What's is really like?

Although you said you don't need a lie back buggy when we went on our hols last years we found it invaluable to have that on the buggy.
I think I remember from your other posts that your DD is quite young and if your little one is anything like our two DS's she'll be on the go all day on holiday so any chance of a little snooze will be jumped at.
Have a lovely time and enjoy your buggy shopping!

Thanks EmmaTMG. Yes, Dd ia pretty young - she'll be 16 months on holiday. But she can sleep anywhere luckily and we do have access to a bar in our hotel so I doubt we'll be out too late. My concern of getting a lay back stroller is the price and weight. I may as well take my 3 wheeler if it is going to be lighter. I don't know - at least I have a while to go yet to decide what to do.

No idea about the Volo but we got a £40 Mothercare stroller 3 1/2 years ago and have been really happy with it. It's still going strong having survived 7 flights.

It has one upright and one reclined position, just enough of a recline for a comfortable nap. Unfortunately it is lime green and navy though.

Soupdragon - what's its weight like? The new Mothercare one is 6kg but our 3 wheeler only weights just over 7kg anyway. I think weight will be the main factor as we have to take it on the plane, move it between hotels and transfers, etc.

If you try to take a 3 wheeler on a plane you may well find that you have to check it in (bulk not weight is an issue) and won't see it again until baggage reclaim at the other end - which may or may not be a problem depending on time of day, how far your dd will walk, delays etc. Probably also depends who you fly with, but with an umbrella stroller you can take it right to boarding gate and (sometimes!)take it straight from the plane door.

Have you looked at the Chicco Caddy, around 5kg I think, with sunshade, travel bag and an adjustable seat c£40 ? Mothercare and Toys r Us usually do a selection of lightweights from £20 up in various fabrics too.

We bought the Volo because we wanted to be able to take a lightwight buggy on holiday. We love it!

It's very light (3.8kg, I think), is very easy to fold/ unfold, and has a convenient carry strap, so you can sling it over your shoulder, if needed. I'm not sure if we would bother with the accessories again, although if you're intending to go somewhere sunny, then the hood would be useful, but unfortunately, you can't buy the accessories separately.

HTH

No idea how much it weighs (I guess it's the same as their current one) but it has never been a problem when travelling. Very rarely (maybe once) have I got it back at the plane even though it's always been checked at the gate on departure.

I think, from a transport point of view, that how it folds and the size when folded is more of an issue than weight. You are rarely carrying it rather than wheeling your child in it, in my experience anyway.

I agree that a sun shade of some description is pretty much essential for babies if you're going somewhere hot.

If you go to www.mothercare.com you can check all the weights of the pushchairs. The Volo is about half the weight of the mothercare own brand lightweight stroller.

I agree with Soupdragon. Also I would have thought a concern would be the fact that luggage crews that pack and unpack strollers are notoriously bad at how they handle the strollers and although I've not had the experience I've seen strollers coming off in a fairly battered state. So we opted for cheapness as well. You mention this in your first post - but then seem to concentrate on weight. Like Soupdragon I would have thought weight would only be an issue if you were going somewhere where you would be permanently folding up the stroller and carrying the baby such as getting on and off lots of buses.

1-3kg in weight never felt that much to me when spread across a stroller but could save 10.00+ in price so that when the stroller was lost/damaged on holiday I wouldn't feel quite so upset etc etc etc

We already have a nice big sun parasol anyway (which we use with out 3 wheeler) so I don't think I'll need the hood. And hopefully it won't rain! We also have a fab changing bag - Kipling - which we will be using on holiday. Weight is quite important as we will need to keep carrying on and off of the boats and transfer transport. Cost isn't a major issue but obviously I don't want to spend more than I need too.

In terms of weight as well - we did notice a big difference when picking up the Volo compared to a Mothercare stroller (6kg). I'm not that big and haven't been to the gym much recently to get my arm muscles going

Have to say DH's biggie is the way it looks - he hates all these bright colours. We spent ages getting out other puschair and car seat in black/navy colours but also meeting all my priorities!

Thanks for all the advice to everyone. I'll re-read everything again but I think we may go with the Volo as it still seems to meet everything we need and Tissy's experience of using it seems to be very positive.

Claireandrich - we have a Volo, and I LOVE it. It is lilac(ish) with the grey accessory pack. I must admit that I though you could buy the accessories seperately, but I might be wrong. It is so light and easy to carry. As someone else said, the strap on the back is great. I would advise the raincover (which only comes in the accessory pack), because it is especially designed to fit the hood (which also comes in the accessories).

As for the colours, it comes in black, which is not bright...can you tell how much I love my Volo!!!

thanks chinchilla - pretty much decided now I think. Don't need the accessories pack though I don't think. We have a sun shade anyway and DD simply hates raincovers and goes up the wall if we put one on he 3 wheeler - only used it once as a result. Besides, surely it won't rain in Italy in August!!!!

You could be right there! But, I presume that you'll use it after your holiday too? Or are you one of these rich people who can throw it away??? If so, pass it here please...

We love ours for its (lack of) weight and ease of use - once we realised that the hood could stay attached, rather than having to be slowly eased off (you'll understand when you get it) every time the buggy was folded. DD doesn't look super-comfortable in the single position, but she's never yet complained and she gets a better view than she usually has from her M'care 3 wheeler. Do remember that with it's little solid wheels, it doesn't respond as well on cobbles/unmade tracks etc as your pneumatic 3-wheeler. All that said, we'd buy it again. Being able to throw it over your shoulder and clamber onto planes and boats makes all the difference.

We've just returned from a week in Spain - we took a light grey Volo for dd (she's 6mo), and thought it was good. She didn't seem to have any problems sleeping in it. It was certainly very light, although slightly bulkier than some of the very cheap ones. We didn't like the brakes (too fiddly).

We ummed and ahhed over whether to get the accessory pack - we did get it in the end, but I'm still not sure whether it was worth it. We didn't need the pad because the cosytoes from her 'big' pushchair fitted and the sunshade was only really effective when we had our backs to the sun (might have been better taking a parasol). The raincover was useful (once), but we could probably have managed without it - I expect I'll get a lot of use out of it back in the UK though!

We took ours skiing and it was fab, indeed DS was in it from the age of 6 months. I would highly recommend it. Its really good to use on public transport in London.

Chinchilla - I wish!!! LOL.

No, we will use it afterwards but not as our main pushchair. I will use it for the one day a week DD goes to MIL but she isn't likely to take DD out in the rain for a walk anyway. Or we will use it if going away to visit friends where we need to put other things in the boot, like the travel cot, bags, etc. Again - we aren't likely to be going out and about in the rain. We've only used the 3 wheelers rain cover once in the pas year so seems like a lot of money to pay out for little use.

We got our Volo on Saturday and it is fab. DD loves it and keeps wanting to sit in it. We went shopping round Meadowhall on Sunday and it was so easy and light to use. I could even take DD out and carry both her and the pushchair to go upstairs in some shops without lifts. We think it is fab so I am glad we went for it.

Great! I love mine too!