Rural moms/dads--what kind of stroller do you have/need?

[Budino918]

Hi there,

I'm an urban girl moving to a rural area, and after months of learning about what I need for the city streets I'm suddenly faced with a new situation, and I'm overwhelmed!

I have a 6 month old daughter, and I do wear her a lot in slings and other types of carriers. She's about to outgrow her snugride carseat, which we've been using with the Kolcraft base as a stroller.

Any suggestions as to what to get next? I hope to be taking walks in the area, but I suppose the stroller would also be used for trips to the city (via train or car) and of course, car trips to malls and the like.

Thanks in advance!

[JodiM]

We have a Valco Runabout, and it's perfect for our gravel roads (and the grass that has tons of twist my ankle holes) as well as for shopping, since it has the swivel front wheel.
It folds up fairly small so it would be good for the car as well.

If you are looking for outside only, definitely go with the Bob Revolution.

[firsttimemommy]

Have you considered buying more than one stroller? What is your budget?

I live in a rural area, and IMHO, to get the best of both worlds, I would get TWO strollers - a more rugged A/T for outside and a smaller mall crawler type for town trips - especially if you will be lugging it on a train. I tried to go with the "one stroller for everything" with a mountain buggy, and while they are very nice strollers, I just personally got sick of the bulk of it in shopping areas and while lugging in and out of the car.

For all terrain outside use only, any jogger will do - fixed or swivel wheel - but I highly recommend something that has a great canopy (like the BOB that Jodi recommended, or the Dreamer Design) There are many other outdoor choices (prams, four wheel steering types like the Bertinis), but joggers are probably the most practical. Now personally, I am intrigued (almost to the point of ordering) by the BOB due to the souped up suspension they are supposed to have. But again, there are many choices.

For your in the car stroller, a more lightweight compact option would be best. Inglesina Zippy, Peg P3 and the Zoopers are all good choices - as I imagine you would still like a more substantial (read: child tray/bar, full recline) for a 6 month old. A Mac Quest would work (and is super lightweight and easy to carry) but the recline is only partial and I didn't really love mine until my DD was well over a year (but that is my personal opinion/experience).

If you can only get one stroller, then the Valco runabout is a good choice, as I believe it folds pretty small. It would be harder to lug around on a train, but could be done I suppose. The Kiwi E3 is nice too, but no one has any right now and they are not expected in stock for several months. Whatever you do though, for rural strollering you must have air tires or you will be miserable!

HTH some :)

Ronda
Proud Mommy to 2 adorable munchkins - 1/03 and 4/04

"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes........that way you are a mile away and you have their shoes."

[phillymommy]

I agree about having two strollers. I have the Runabout and I would die if I had to lug it in and out of the car daily. I'm in the market for a Quest to keep in the car!


Nicole
Mom to Charlie (3.2 years) & Mateo (5 months)

[Budino918]

thanks everyone. I had a feeling 2 strollers would be in order. Runabout and Quest sound like a great combo...though that means spending almost $600 on strollers!

[firsttimemommy]

What is your budget?

There are lots of choices for your outdoor stroller that would be cheaper than the runabout - the quality will not be as good, and most of them would be fixed wheel instead of swivel, but for just walking outside, you could do fixed wheel on a "lower" end jogger and save some money.....

And the 2003 Quests are on clearance everywhere right now for about $125 shipped.


Ronda
Proud Mommy to 2 adorable munchkins - 1/03 and 4/04

"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes........that way you are a mile away and you have their shoes."

[pamela mom of 3]

Other than it wouldn't work for train use a pram goes nicely for the mall and outdoors when living rual...

I owned prams with all 3 of my kids, it worked wonderfully for outdoors, gave a nice ride on the gravel, grass and uneven terrain and was plenty workable in the mall too..

Having a lighterweight umbrella is good for errands etc but one doesn't have to go to the jogger style for outdoor rual use unless your running of coarse ;)

[lmariana]

Very true about the cheaper jogger Ronda. I've heard lots of moms are really happy with their Jeep AT strollers. They have a swivel wheel and are only $130.

If you still want something "cute", I think the Bumbleride Rocket would be awesome, plus it's almost $100 less than the Valco. It also won't break your back if you want to take it in and out of the car sometimes.

Mariana
Owner of HappyDayBaby
Mother of Gabriel, 08/2003
www.heinzandmariana.com (personal site)

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030814/1/5/0/-5/.png

http://lilypie.com/days/051024/0/21/1/-5/.png

[Jennymarie]

We also did a city/rural switch. We have a Maclaren Techno and a Mountain Buggy Urban Single. You definitely want to think about ease of fold (ideally one handed) and weight, because you really use your car a whole lot in the countryside.

We have the Techno because it was cheap on ebay and we're fairly tall. The Quest, or any lightweight umbrella stroller probably would be fine for us too. This is our mall crawler/anytime we need something to cart Nathan around in for short stretches where maneuverability is important or space in the car is at a minimum (i.e., road trips). Last I saw, you can get 04 Maclarens on ebay for about 50% of retail. If you're big on malls, you might want something with more capacity than this. I'm not a huge mall-walker so the storage issue is rarely a problem here.

We have the Mountain Buggy Urban Single for gravel roads, dirt roads and any other long walks/hikes where the streets aren't super-smooth. We considered the Mountain Buggy Terrain Single, just because the fixed wheel and proportions make it very easy to control in rough terrain, but in the end we decided that the versatility of the the front wheel that can either pivot or remain fixed is really important. When we go out to my husband's road races, or a local fair -- there are lots of situations where the maneuverability is nice to have, even in the outdoors. And the ease of the fold on this thing is unmatched - you literally take it out of the rear of your car and it opens and locks itself into position. Done.

We never got a full-featured plush infant type stroller. I'm not sure where I'd ever use one. These always seem too big for the mall, too heavy/bulky to pack, and they aren't best suited for the outdoors because the ones I've seen don't have air tires.

[firsttimemommy]

I did mention a pram in my first reply post :)

But I continued emphasizing joggers b/c I figured if she was going to buy two strollers, a jogger would be cheaper in most cases - most prams I've seen are much more expensive than the lower end joggers/swivel wheel air tire type strollers :)

Now if she is going to use the outdoor stroller the most, then she *could* invest in a nicer jogger OR a pram, and buy a cheaper mall stroller - this is all assuming she is on a budget and trying to maximize her stroller dollars :)


Ronda
Proud Mommy to 2 adorable munchkins - 1/03 and 4/04

"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes........that way you are a mile away and you have their shoes."

[Budino918]

Oooh, that bumbleride *is* cute. Wish they had more color options, but you can't have everything, right?

I'd looked at the Jeep online, amazing price. I tried one IRL locally, and it was ok, just felt so...BIG. But then, again, I'm still in the city, and am used to the 17 lb strollers being the heavy guys.

I'd love to wait until I move to decide, as I'm still surrounded by Macs and Bugaboos, but then a place to try these out would be a lot further away...