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(Review ID: 1773)
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3 of
3 people found the following review helpful:
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Compact, smooth, manoeuvrable stroller, great for travel, February 3, 2009
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Reviewer: storeygirl from Phoenix, AZ
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storeygirl
saw things this way
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Overall Grade
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(9) |
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Pros:
Great fold, durable, adaptable, stable, eyecatching design
Cons:
Wide spaced back wheels, quite heavy for a compact.
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I was lucky enough to receive a bugaboo as a gift, but I don't trust airline gate staff to look after it, so needed a travel stroller for a 6 month old. I spent a lot of time researching and went with a (second hand) spider for several reasons:1) Great compact fold, with a built in handle for carrying - the fold really is amazingly compact, especially if you remove the sunshade and retract the handle to its lowest height. I can manage to collapse it with the baby in one arm, although it is a little tricky.
2) Partial reclining seat. Few other ultra compact strollers have a decent recline - my 6 month old was safe and comfortable at the full available recline and slept for 2 hours on our first trial.
3) Eyecatching - people often look and ask what brand it is, and my husband is happy to push such a slick design.
4) Adjustable handle bar. My husband HATES kicking his toes on strollers, he thought it essential to be able to extend the handlebar.
5) Very easy to manoeuvre - soft foam handlebar is very comfortable; you can steer with one hand, the brake is a foot brake so you really can do it all one handed.
6) Foam wheels are almost silent and very smooth, even over New York sidewalks - no clattering or jiggling. And they are foam so can't deflate.Other pros noted since purchase:
1) Small storage space which I see as a bonus as most compact strollers have none
2) Flip up foot rest extends seat so smaller babies don't have feet dangling.
3) Adjustable padded straps fit smaller babies and larger toddlers, also the headroom is sufficient for larger kids.
4) Reasonable canopy for the size of stroller.
5) Stable enough to support a diaper bag over the handlebar.Features that you may see as a pro or con depending on your view:
1) It has a very wide base which makes it very stable - at no point have I thought it might tip over on the 3 wheels (even with a bag on the back). The downside is, the wide back wheels that create the stability can be wieldy - only once have we scraped a doorway, but keep this in mind if you need to access tight spots. We tend to collapse the stroller in smaller places like restaurants.
2) Weight - at 20 lbs, it is compact but not lightweight. We quite like this - it is such a solid stroller we feel fairly confident that airlines can't hurt it. Others may find it a hassle to lift so much weight.
3) Ventilation - the seat is padded board, but the top half is open to the back, and there is a mesh vent under the baby's bottom. We live in Phoenix, this is a definite plus for us, but on a recent visit to New York (and 20F cold) we had to line the seat with a blanket and buy a footmuff to make sure our baby was warm.Accessories - ours came with a raincover which has been invaluable for rain and wind, I would highly recommend it.
There is a transit bag available, but for us it's just another step at the gate to try to fit it in a bag.
Footmuff is great if you live in a colder climate.
Apparently there was an adaptor for the graco carseat but it doesn't seem to be available any longer, sadly.This stroller does exactly what I want it to - I would highly recommend it for travel and for those with limited space. It doesn't have all the features of a goliath like a bugaboo, but it doesn't have the price tag either.
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