DT reader asdf (whose son is named, not qwerty, but Ezra) sends these pictures of their Bugaboo, covered with patches, souvenirs from Ezra's travels ("In 16 months, heís been on over 30 airplanes; criss-crossed the country and visited Europe twice."):
We got the idea when we took our first trip to Italy with Ezra when he was 3 months old. These fabric patches are everywhere. When we got back, my husband made it his mission to find the coolest patches. We have found lots of vintage patches online, ebay, etc. It's gotten to the point where he'll will say, "We've got to go to Omaha, because the patch is so great."That, and you'll be much tanner than the Nebraskans, and you'll be the first people to drive through the mall with an orange Bugaboo, which will cause people to stop and stare in awe.
Road trip!
Nice job on the pathces. Are they sewn on? I think I saw you at the Central Park Zoo a few weeks ago. Makes me think of boy scout badges. Maybe bugaboo will make some in honor of those "daytrips" and milk some more bucks from us bugaboogers.
This reminds me of the Quinny Buzz I saw last weekend in Battery Park with little "confirmed kill" skulls on the sun visor.
I know that there are a lot of people who very passionate about the bugaboo but can I get some more opinions from people here? My wife really thinks that we need one and I think that it is a crazy waste of money. We do not live in a walking city although there are some good paths around the house. We need to drive to most stores and friends houses.
She likes the versatility and that it has the bassinet and can be rolled up to tables as a high chair in restaurants.
From the people that we bump into who have the stroller they seem almost too far over the top about extolling the virtues. To some extent I read it as "we speant a heck of a lot of money and need to justify the purchase to myself and try to get others to validate my spending the money".
Our first kid is 3 months off so we are hitting the do it or not point right about now...
Dan - sounds like you already know about the bugaboo's good and bad points. I have one and would advise against it, if you don't live in a walking community. I find it to be a great "stroller." When it comes to packing it up for a trip in the car (the whole 2 piece system is not very convenient or space saving), I find it to just be a trunk hog. As for the high chair useage ... good luck ... I find it hard to fit in most restaurants. In NYC, I never use it to go shopping, because it is a little too big for navigating in smaller aisles. I love it for taking long strolls. I love the bassinet (but only used it for a few months). No one "needs" the bugaboo. I got one because I knew I would be doing tons of walking with the baby and after pushing one around, found that it was the best for me. If you do get one, you may find that you will also end up getting an umbrella stroller to do all the things the bugaboo can not do.
We are the owners of that Bugaboo! Thanks for the comments - we were at the Central Park Zoo last month (in town for my sister's wedding!).
Me and my girlfriend are the other way around -- I think the Bugaboo and similar euro-styled strollers are awesome, she thinks they look too metallic and functional...so most likely, she's gonna win. We both like the Micralite that was posted about some time back though, anyone out there with one of those?
We both really loved the bugaboo for probably every reason you've already heard so I won't go into them again. However, the included bassinet is a real plus. We were going to get a co-sleeper so having the stroller work as a bassinet that I can park next to my head saved us $129 right there. We also have a plastic-eating dog, so that influenced our decision as well. The less plastic, the less he'll be tempted. My spouse was dead set on the bugaboo from the get-go. I wanted it too but had a hard time swallowing the price, so I researched the hell out of pretty much every stroller on the market for months before I finally gave in. Basically, with any decent stroller on the market, and by "decent" I mean not low-end and won't fall apart before your kid grows out of it (Graco, Evenflo, etc.), after you buy the stroller and the add-on accessories to make up the same package you get with the frog complete, you've spent about the same amount of money. That is, if wheels are the big thing for you, which they were for us. I think everyone can agree inflatables are better than plastic. Before we bought our bugaboo, we were looking into brands like Bertini, Bebecar, Mountain Buggy, and the Silver Cross Mayfair, which are all great strollers and in the $300 to $500 range just for the stroller alone. Adding the bassinet attachments, rain hoods, etc. will bring you to $800+. Or, if you don't mind small plastic wheels, there are the Maclarens (bad customer service though, and the only one that fits a carseat is the global at $300 and only includes a rain cover) or the Combi I-Thru, also $300, which I thought was pretty nifty-looking and came with a bassinet, but nothing else and you can only attach a combi seat, I believe, but the sites I looked at weren't specific about that.
Our biggest concerns when shopping for a stroller were finding something that would work with a graco infant seat, something that would fit all of our possible needs for two years, something that could turn on a dime and, let's face it, something that looked cool. My two cousins with four and three kids each probably gave the best advice. They told me every parent will have different preferences that are not always readily apparent before the birth. One of them was partial to carriers, so they bought a Graco travel system to get around in and a really expensive backpack carrier for later. The other cousin does a lot of hiking and mall shopping so they went with a Peg Perego stroller and a BOB jogger. The spouse and I spend a lot of time on the cobblestone streets of Boston so we got a bugaboo with a Graco seat attachment and a Baby Bjorn. I think in all, my two cousins and I each spent about the same amount of money when it came down to it.
The only thing about the bugaboo that I don't like is the fold. I am jealous of the one-handed fold of other strollers, but you have to pick your battles. I'm very happy with all of my other options. And now that we have others engineering after-market cup holders for us thanks to daddytypes and modern day dad, that's no longer a gripe either.
Does nobody on this site have a sense of humor?
Am I just not funny?
Is it both?
Don't answer the second or third ones.
Dude, I was fully planning to go to BPC on a photostalking mission. Are you saying you were joking?
Of course I was joking, everyone knows the Browning 50. adapters for the Quinny Buzz are only available in Europe.
Ok I'm also guilty of being a strollerfreek!
Since I've started our search I've across quite a few nice Stollers/Prams/Buggies of course the Bugaboo triplites(Frog/Gecko/Chameleon)www.bugaboo.nl The Dorel topline products from Quinny (Buzz/Zapp/Spedi-sx/Freestyle3&4)www.quinny.com all of course accept a Maxi-Cosi (Cabrio/Citi) www.maxicosi.nl car seat with ease.
Having had less press on this site is the Bertini (Shuttle-m5/ts)www.bertini.com the above mentioned Mio is not a Bertini but a Torck (Bayamo) www.torck.com & No my british freinds I'll save you the time it's not a Babystyle original even though they relabel it on import.
Of the same feather there is also the Firstwheels (City Elite) www.firstwheels.nl yet not the same build quality. I won't overlook the Stokke (Xplory) www.stokke.com Yet on all the floor models I've seen the handle coating is pealing. I likely would have ended up with a Mutsy (Urban-Rider/3-Rider/Free-Rider) www.mutsy.nl Had it fit in my 2004 Seat Ibiza Sport a little better! This site has been such a help till now hope this gives others the chances given me. Just write for more spicifics as I've taken apart & put back together again just about all the models I'd listed.
By the way Anna what would posess u to think about using a graco Anything!
The only graco thing we have is a snugride infant seat because I haven't known anyone with a peg perego who liked it (my family tends to deliver huge babies, the main problem being the pegs are too narrow, the gracos are a little wider). Plus, since we do have a bugaboo, it was either the peg, the graco or a maxi cosi of which I couldn't find a decent looking one with international shipping. Why is it the only internationally shipped maxi cosis are the zebra print ones? Are they trying to get rid of them?
Anyways, the graco infant seats I don't mind, we got the shelton so it's about as plain as graco gets, silver base with black seat, it's got some grey pinstriping stuff on it but nothing that specifically resembles plaid, and ZERO ruffles. The graco strollers I won't even walk near in the store.
Anna try this site they have almoast every cabrio avalible WWW.BabyCare.nl & ship to the usa albiet 4 a hefty price!
Ps. there will be a ISOFIX base come july may pave the way for some enterprising north american importer!
Hey Sam,
Any chance of elaborating on the First Wheels "not the same build quality" as I am looking into this pram - little more compact than the Mio & not as expensive as the bugaboo also have you heard of the Hauck Infinity - if so any opinions. I am in Australia & need some help mate - it's all sooooooo confusing.
Hi I've got the hauck infinity and it's a pretty good pushchair. It turns on a sixpence and has lovely suspension. It's biggest downfalls are it's harness is very small on the waist so my 16 month old can't afford to get any bigger there (not that she's at all fat now). You have to take the seat off to fold it when the seat is in the face parent mode although on the bugaboo you have to take it off all the time. There's no catch to lock the pushchair shut after folding you have to do up a strap which is just time consuming. My preference is my Stokke Xplory which isn't pealing on the handle bar yet and it's 7 months old.
Hi - I'm also from Australia and finding it difficult to find the perfect pram. It can be a real pain as Oz is super strict on the safety standards so we don't get the same products to choose from as you. It makes it really hard as we'll see a great pram on the web and it won't be available here. I've also been looking at the City Elite as a more affordable option to the Bugaboo. This will be our first child and although I love the Bugaboo, I think I'm being silly buying an Allesi type design at twice the price of what most people would think is expensive... Can anyone elaborate more on the City Elite?
Has anyone piloted a Bugaboo Chameleon, City Elite, and Hauck Infinity? Can anyone explain the differences between these strollers that all look essentially the same? I have piloted the Bugaboo as I live in NYC and they are in every shop, but the others have tantalizing prices. The key for us is that we are both tall with long strides, which means that our toes kick every other basic stroller with every blooming step. The Chameleon has a truly extendable handle that rules the decision at this point. The mid-range strollers that advertise "height adjustability" really mean that they are comfortable for average heights as well as short people, from what we have experienced. What a joke. What do the manufacturers think? Tall people don't get laid? Anyway, would love pointers or comparisons between the three.