 Perfect for What We Need it For! |
| Review Date: June 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: C. Kaufman, NYC |
I have seen plenty of mixed reviews about the Baby Trend Jogger Travel System. Many of the negative reviews claimed that this product does not hold up well over the long haul, citing its low price as evidence that it could not be a very reliable stroller after all.
While that might be true, this stroller has worked out PERFECTLY for my wife and me as a second stroller. My family has a summer home on Fire Island, which is off of the South Shore of Long Island, and is only accessible by ferry boat. My wife and I decided, although it would be more expensive, that we would need a second set of many items for our baby boy because we did not want to have to lug too many things back and forth each week; that meant a second crib, play pen, bather, jungle gym, and so on and so forth, but also a second stroller.
We bought the Peg Perego Pliko as our primary stroller, with a matching car seat, that fit into the stroller for when he was an infant. The Peg combined with the car seat ran close to $700! With that kind of investment, we did not want to drag the stroller and car seat out to the beach each weekend, where they could get ruined by the elements and we figured that the stroller might not handle so well on the boardwalks and sandy terrain. We thought that a jogger would be the ideal type of stroller for Fire Island: Light weight, durable, compact, great for an active lifestyle. At first we were set on getting a Baby Jogger, with the "City Mini" being the least expensive and most logical choice. However, knowing that our boy would still be younger than six months all summer long, we knew we needed to be able to use the car seat in the stroller. That presented the problem of having to either a). use an adaptor to put our Peg Perego car seat into the jogger, which we did not want to do for reasons already discussed, or b). buy ANOTHER car seat to go along with the jogger. We reluctantly decided to try using our existing car seat with the Baby Jogger, although that meant that not only might it be harmed in transit and out at the beach, but that we would have to carry it back and forth with us. Besides, we did not want to spend a couple hundred dollars on a car seat that we would really only need for one summer. Also, the adapter that made the Baby Jogger car seat-ready did not look very safe.
Enter the Baby Trend Travel System! My wife spotted it on the floor of the stroller section at Buy Buy Baby. We could not believe that it was so inexpensive AND that it included a car seat! We liked the styling and colors, the cup holders, and little change compartment. The little area underneath the stroller for storing things was even larger than on our Peg Perego! Also, the car seat (which we found out got an extremely high safety rating on its own), snapped into the stroller portion securely and easily. The salesman at Buy Buy Baby admitted that it was a popular stroller although he did not know much about it. When we told him why we needed it: as a second stroller that we would use and leave out at the beach house, he convinced us that we would be crazy to spend $500 on anything else.
The jogger, along with a collection of other items arrived at the house on Fire Island and I frenetically started to assemble everything. I thought the stroller would be difficult (mainly because our Peg was a bit harder to assemble than I thought it should be), so I saved it for last. When I finally got around to putting the stroller together, I was amazed at the ease of assembly. The frame came fully assembled, with the canopies and seating area attached, and all I had to do was unfold the frame and snap in the wheels. Once I snapped the tray table into place, the car seat also snapped right in. The stroller is easy to fold up and to disassemble.
I have heard complaints about the jogger's handling, particularly that the front wheel wobbles. This has not been my experience and I have brought the stroller over sand, rocks, and boardwalks. The large, mountian bike style tires are ideal for such terrain. Further the stroller has done great having been accidentally left out in the rain, and being in an environment where the sea air is moist, salty, and very tough on metal and fabrics; I had expected the stroller to have shown some rust and fading by now, but that has not been the case at all.
All told, we have had the Baby Trend Jogger Travel System for about two and a half months and have gotten about 30 day's use out of it. So, I cannot vouch for its quality over a 365 day period, or as a primary stroller. Since our son is our first born, my wife and I had the original mind-set that we would spare no expense in getting the best of everything for him. So, if you are convinced that a more expensive stroller would be a safer, better quality product for everyday use, then I totally understand. However, my wife and I have quickly learned where we might want to splurge and in which areas we are better off saving money when it comes to the baby. My only complaint about the stroller is that the tires were difficult to inflate with a regular bicycle pump and I had to take them down to a local hardware store and use the high-pressure electrical pump in order to inflate the tires.
So, if you are looking for a second stroller or something that you can easily travel with, in the interest of saving wear and tear on your primary stroller, or to save yourself the aggravation of having to carry your primary stroller to and from places, and do not feel like spending too much on a second stroller, the Baby Trend is an EXCELLENT product that deserves consideration, and will probably be durable enough to be a primary stroller as well. My wife and I have been nothing but pleased. |
Great buy for the money!
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| Review Date: September 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: C. Smith, San Antonio, TX, USA |
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R32KB44O00CUZ6 The Good:
- Inexpensive jogging stroller
- Easy to assemble, no tools required
- Easy to compact, removable rear wheels
- Reclines almost flat for newborns
- All terrain
Not-so-Good:
- Average materials and construction
- Swiveling front wheel can be wobbly
- Bulky, heavy when traveling |
love it!
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| Review Date: October 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: M. Johnson, orlando,fl |
I love this stroller! I use it everyday, not only to go out for walks with the baby but also use it to go shopping. It is the best to go for long walks, but not the best for small turns around the mall or for jogging. Thats why I have to give it a 4/5. If not it is a perfect stroller for the price.
Other than that, it is a smooth ride for my baby usually falls sleep when I put him on it.
The car seat does fit on the stroller. I was a little bit skeptical about this, since I had read many reviews saying it does not fit well on the stroller. But it does. No problem with it.
The stroller and car seat are a little bit on the heavy side, but what stroller/car seat are not? everything is heavy nowadays.
I definitely recommend this product. |
NICE but doesn't fold so flat
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| Review Date: January 18, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Zombarella, Las Vegas, NV USA |
| I love this stroller! It has a nice smooth ride and a nice compartment down below, up in the handle area, and it adjusts to my height. I only have 2 things wrong, it doesn't fold flat enough for my trunk (and I have a big trunk for my car) and the little window to see baby when covered, doesnt stay up.....it should have had a second velcro spot to hold it open. It only has velcro to hold it closed. |
If $200 is your upper limit -- it's great.
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| Review Date: June 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Picky Dad, SF bay area, CA |
We got this stroller for our newborn baby boy, and were pretty excited at first. Now, 3 weeks later, we still think its a decent product, but we've found that we keep wishing for some extras that are missing.
We don't have money growing on trees, but extra $200 spent on a better stroller, split over 365 days is just about 55 cents per day. When you put it that way, Pick Dad and Choosy Mom both agree -- it would be worth it.
Pros:
The car seat and stroller are safe and solid. Car seat base is quite convenient. Snapping baby seat in and out of the car base and stroller is a breeze. It simply does everything that a stroller and car seat should do.
Cons:
- wheel suspension: The ride is nice and comfortable on smooth surfaces (really well paved sidewalks and inside stores), but is quite bumpy on your average pavement. When we take our dogs for a walk in the park, pushing the stroller on a dirt foot path creates so much shaking, that I feel like I'm breaking my promise I gave to Kaiser Permanente Doctor, that "I won't shake my baby". I have to take the car seat out and carry it around, while Choosy Mom plays with our dogs.
- front wheel assembly: Front wheel "wiggles" quite often when walking at a faster pace, or running. "Wiggling" is best described as what some clunky shopping cart wheels do. By chance, we've stumbled on a solution that solves the problem, when we put 2 gallons of milk in the basket below. Ever since that, we put 2-3 clay bricks in the basket to stop the "wiggle". This was the most annoying problem so far.
- restraining belts: shoulder belts are so close together that they cut into kid's neck. Not sure if they can be spaced any wider (due to safety) but at least some belt padding should solve this problem.
Some other "would be nice to see":
- we would have loved to see some thicker padding inside the car seat.
- when folded, the stroller is still very bulky -- takes up half of available cargo space in our Volvo SUV.
Don't let the Volvo reference skew your opinion -- it was bought used for half the price of a brand new one.
Bottom line:
If $199 is your upper limit for a travel system, you will be very happy. If you can afford another $200 -- keep looking.
"Picky Dad + Choosy Mom = Happy Kid" |
Good for 90 days
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| Review Date: January 16, 2010 |
| Reviewer: E. Gifford, |
| So we got this stroller off our registry, and it was excellent except for when you actually wanted to run. Then around 90 days even if you wanted to use it to walk around, the front wheel will shake back and forth so bad that it vibrates the whole stroller. We have looked at how to tighten it multiple times, but still are not finding a solution. At this time, we have to keep the front wheel locked in place to prevent this happening, which makes it extremely difficult to turn corners. We will be looking for a different stroller today. |
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