Strollers for a bike snob dad to be?

[shiftpgdn]

I'm not sure how many of you folks are parents but does anyone have any stroller makes or models they can recommend? I've been shopping with the wife and all of the strollers we have looked at are absolute garbage. Every single stroller I have examined has welds that look like mutant caterpillars, extraordinarily rough bearings, cheap and awful plastic everywhere, and of course the absolutely crap plastic wheels. We've even gone and looked at the "high-end" stroller stores and everything there was terrible and would probably be failed by the quality control team who work on department store bikes. How do they get away with charging $400-900+ USD for gas pipe steel contraptions that weigh 30+ lbs?

Am I going to have to have a bespoke stroller built or am I just being overly critical?

[airedale]

We got a bugaboo chameleon. It's worked out really well for us. Our first is now four and our second is one so it's copped quite a work out. Best part is it breaks down into two pieces thus making for a lighter and smaller load to pack in the car - weight is important particularly after c section.

Kids have both slept comfortably in it. It moves well and the material can be stripped down and machine washed.

Enjoy the ride!

[cs124]

We've been through a few strollers (and literally thousands of km walking and running) with our 2 kids.

I found the ideal combination is get 2 strollers.
We spent maybe 150 bucks on a light, easy folding strollers that can go into the car. This one will get the most (ab)use and will predominantly be used for shopping mall trips. In our case we got 2 and had one in each car. Swallow was the brand. Can't remember the model but it was nothing special. Certainly not as nice as a Bugaboo.

The second stroller was a high performance running thing like this. I'm not sure of the exact make and model because we inherited it from a friend but it looked almost exactly the same as this one. Great fun. These ones don't fold down as nicely as shopping type strollers so keep that in mind if you want to take it in the car.

The big, fancy "baby buggy" was too heavy, had too many attachments and hardly got used.

[roseyscot]

i generally agree that the strollers i've seen are covered in plastic, ugly welds, and heavy. but, once you've been using one for 6+ months you'll realize what a rough handling and life they experience. our primary stroller is the uppababy brand. made in MA i believe. not the lightest, but it is durable. think of your stroller as akin to that commuter/rain/fendered bike. it's gonna get thrown into the car, banged into walls, puked on, etc.

[Badonkadonk]

a lot of the super high end strollers (bugaboo, stokke, whatever) look cool in the store and probably last forever but i found them heavy and big for everyday use

my wife and i went for a bit of a hybrid - we have a citymini that is robust enough to roll on long walks, but fold-y and simple enough to throw in the car. but we also have a cheapie maclaren that stays in the car

[G-reg]

Long time lurker here, finally with something to add. Like has been said already, get a "nice" umbrella for traveling and the mall. We've been abusing a 100ish$ McClaren for a few years now and would recommend it.

And for everything else get a Bob Revolution. It's a bit of a tank and spendy, but totally worth it. There's a attachment for infant seats that works with Graco / Britax / and a few others so you can get a new Dude/Dudette from car to stroller without taking them out of the seat. Push a cheap umbrella stroller through a gravel parking lot, snow, grass, etc. and then push the bob through that kind of terrain.... You'll be sold.

[Brandon White]

We used an Orbit. It was pretty awesome functionally, but damn heavy. We sold it after 6 months and went with a Kooper (I think) - although it was a little big for him at the time. If we have another we'll probably go with Stokke or Bugaboo.

[lavi]

Long time lurker here, finally with something to add. Like has been said already, get a "nice" umbrella for traveling and the mall. We've been abusing a 100ish$ McClaren for a few years now and would recommend it.

And for everything else get a Bob Revolution. It's a bit of a tank and spendy, but totally worth it. There's a attachment for infant seats that works with Graco / Britax / and a few others so you can get a new Dude/Dudette from car to stroller without taking them out of the seat. Push a cheap umbrella stroller through a gravel parking lot, snow, grass, etc. and then push the bob through that kind of terrain.... You'll be sold.

Exactly. This is what we have/had.

The McClaren for pushing in the grocery store. The Bob Revolution (don't buy the running only/fixed wheel one) for everything else. We have the single and double Bob. They hold their resale very well. My wife is a runner and loved those damn contraptions. IMO, the Bob's are the best. Super easy to use (fold up, pick up, unfold), have good accessories (baby seat, console for holding shit, warm lamby insert, rain cover). The wheels all have quick releases for easy packing into a jammed car. Can't be beat.

Look at CL. You ought to find them for half of retail. Don't worry, those stupid things cannot be in bad condition.

[Human Epic Jolt]

I'm not sure how many of you folks are parents but does anyone have any stroller makes or models they can recommend? I've been shopping with the wife and all of the strollers we have looked at are absolute garbage. Every single stroller I have examined has welds that look like mutant caterpillars, extraordinarily rough bearings, cheap and awful plastic everywhere, and of course the absolutely crap plastic wheels. We've even gone and looked at the "high-end" stroller stores and everything there was terrible and would probably be failed by the quality control team who work on department store bikes. How do they get away with charging $400-900+ USD for gas pipe steel contraptions that weigh 30+ lbs?

Am I going to have to have a bespoke stroller built or am I just being overly critical?

those stokke thinks are hilarious.

the twin GTs with two rear wheels and one at the front work. i had nothing to do with it but they work.
the rake or trail or whatever seems pretty spot on. it also planes well.

most of the wheels are total shite. regardless of brand. its important to get something that can be folded up aggressively without some plastic shict breaking.

ideally press a button and shake the thing and it should half close by itself, at least so far as to be obvious what should be done next. it should also not get stuck in mud etc.

also. brake mechanisms vary. if it looks like you will destroy it, you undoubtedly will.

[AJPM44]

Just get a bob stroller. I beat the hell outta mine (stroller, not the kid...much). Who gives a shit about how a weld looks when you haven't had more than four hours of continuous sleep in months. Throw the kid in it, get outside,pretend that you still live a normal life, and check out all the MILFs walking their kids. Brakes for strollers are stupid, I can guarantee you aren't running fast enough to need to slow the damn thing down with a brake instead of just slowing your pace. If you park it on a hill with the kid, the brakes will work, if not, you own a bike so tighten it up or throw a rock under the tire to hold it in place. Find one on craigslist and don't worry any more about it. Also, I do recommend a drink (read: beer) holder on it. You can put your phone in one, and a beer in the other for when you go for a nice stroll in the summer. Have fun.

[pdmtong]

we ended up buying 2. one was a lightweight foldable one...it was 7#'s and cost $200-something. the other was a BOB. pushing a kid on 5" wheels on a non-smooth surface will rattle the H out of them. enter the BOB. Get the one with the swivel front wheel. Buy good stuff and you can unload it for at least 50% on local CL. I did that with the potery barn table/chairs, strollers, car seats, booster seats, high chairs, etc. one kid family here. doing the same with all her bikes. madz has owned somethign like 14 to date and I am up $500 all together...burley trailer, alley cat, 12", 16" 20", 24", road, mtb....etc. now she fits a small womens mtb and is on a 48cm road. time flies. take lots of pics....

[Thanasi]

we ended up buying 2. one was a lightweight foldable one...it was 7#'s and cost $200-something. the other was a BOB. pushing a kid on 5" wheels on a non-smooth surface will rattle the H out of them. enter the BOB. Get the one with the swivel front wheel. Buy good stuff and you can unload it for at least 50% on local CL. I did that with the potery barn table/chairs, strollers, car seats, booster seats, high chairs, etc. one kid family here. doing the same with all her bikes. madz has owned somethign like 14 to date and I am up $500 all together...burley trailer, alley cat, 12", 16" 20", 24", road, mtb....etc. now she fits a small womens mtb and is on a 48cm road. time flies. take lots of pics....

We did the same thing. We bought a Bob for the dirt road/trails and a good "umbrella" stroller for the good roads and travelling. You will find that the umbrella strollers are very versatile and can go almost anywhere. Ours made it through some very bumpy cobble street in europe(pave stroller?).

The real challenge arises, which I am going through now, when your child turns 2 and you want to go riding with them. I'm torn between getting a Chariot and attaching it to the back of a cross bike or buying an expensive cargo bike where he would sit in the front and get a great view. Any ideas regarding this?

[mschol17]

We have a BOB and a MacLaren. We had a cheapo umbrella stroller but my wife hated it, and we spent the money on the MacLaren.

When the kid is still in a car seat all the time, get a snap-and-go. Cheap and great to have in the infant stage.

[pdmtong]

We did the same thing. We bought a Bob for the dirt road/trails and a good "umbrella" stroller for the good roads and travelling. You will find that the umbrella strollers are very versatile and can go almost anywhere. Ours made it through some very bumpy cobble street in europe(pave stroller?).

The real challenge arises, which I am going through now, when your child turns 2 and you want to go riding with them. I'm torn between getting a Chariot and attaching it to the back of a cross bike or buying an expensive cargo bike where he would sit in the front and get a great view. Any ideas regarding this?

the burley cart or similar is what I would do purely from a safety perspective. my wife deals with head injured kids and in the off chance you ditch the bike, your kid will take a direct shot from 4' up. with a cart, they are back there reading, with their stuffed toys, etc. but make no mistake. few kids want to sit strapped in for any length of time. I was lucky to get 45minutes before the "I want out!" started. buy used and then resell.

forget giving them a great view. I think that's us projecting on the kid. :-)