Friday, May 23, 2008

The Test Drive - Broom, Broom - Krrd der brr, Ching

I test drove my new stroller last night. It was great. It is a wonderful all-terrain stroller. There are practically no sidewalks here in Texas and lots of rough terrian. It moved over the field next to our apartment very easily. It was much better than the Graco travel stroller I have. Although, the Graco is extremely easy to open and close and it's bulky. As far as a piece of exercise equipment, the new stroller going to really aid exercise. It will work great for post-partum exercise.

I sat and played with all it's features last night. I broke sweat. It's not very user friendly as far as adjustments go. Although, having never used other jogging strollers before, I don't know if they have as many features, or are easy to adjust. I know that this stroller is an all-in-one. It has the all the features of a jogging and conventional stroller, plus, it turns into a double stroller. You can't beat having the option of having two seats or one. I will not always have Alexander with me when I go out to exercise, so it will be nice to just have a single.

All of my friends with two kids (all two of them) have gone through five or more strollers before they settled on one. Even my friends with one kid have gone through multiple strollers. They went through the single (when they had one kid), the umbrella for travel, the double conventional, the double umbrella, the single jogging, the double jogging, combinations of all depending on their need at that moment. My new stroller folds up small enough that hopefully it will eliminate the use of all other strollers.

Andrew does not like the construction materials. He says they look cheap. I do not totally disagree with him. I read multiple reviews online about fabric fraying in the first month of use and the company not replacing it--"normal wear and tear" they said. That's not good, and I am going to keep an eye on that. It says in the warranty to not contact the manufacturer, but retailer for this kind of thing and the reviewer seems to have contacted the manufacturer and then let the warranty run out.

A couple of things I like about the stroller is that you can adjust the handle depending on your height--that is one of the few easy adjusments. I like that you can lay the seat all the way down for a sleeping babe, when you are out and about long hours. Although, that is not an easy adjustment and probably will wake a sleep babe--not cool.

More Cons: It has a bunch of add-ons you can buy for extra, increasing the cost and in my opinion they should be included. For example, it does not have a cup holder, but you can buy one with annoying pouch for $50. I have to shell out $80 more for the doubles seat (I don't mind this one too much). You cannot attach your carseat to it unless you buy the $30 adapter kit and it looks like more annoying adjustable parts.

I will probably write a review for this stroller on amazon.com, but I am going to write it after our trip to New Orleans in late July--after I have had time to use it and abuse it--to give it a fair review.

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