Cameleon vs. Vista

[Philly Mom]

I know similar questions have been asked and debated in this forum, but after doing a search, I was not finding what I need.

I have a friend having her first child next month. She lives in Center City Philadelphia. Philadelphia is a walking city so she will be walking a lot, but the sidewalks are not particularly wide. She also has a car (hatchback) but will probably buy a stroller for the car as well (any advice on what to buy is welcomed). Anyhow, she just spent lots of time at BBB trying out both and does not know which one to get. I have a Bee+ and think the Vista footprint looks large. We have been together when we have seen the Vista and she commented on how wide it was, but I was not sure if it actually felt that way for urban walking.

Any and all advice on which one to get, or why you love or not love one of the two is much appreciated. TIA

[AnnieW625]

I will preface this by saying I am a suburb mom, but I have done a lot of traveling in cities like LA, Boston, and San Francisco with my Maclaren Triumph, and my Maclaren XLR and have been happy. The XLR is the largest Maclaren they make, but it is still pretty manuevarable in city street traffic, but I'd prefer the Quest or the Triumph for every day use. The only downside is that it doesn't have suspension, which the larger XLR has (as does the XT, which is just a bit smaller than the XLR). I started using a Triumph when DD1 was 3 mos. old and had good head control. I have used the XLR with my DD2 since birth. I did love the ability to have a complete recline vs. the limited recline of the Triumph. The Triumph/Quest are super easy to fold and will easily fit in the trunk of a compact car. She can also look at the Objects of Design Maclarens, aka as The Ryder. It is basically the XLR/XT in a smaller Triumph/Quest frame. It has a full recline.

If I were in the market now though and wanted something smaller, but not an umbrella stroller I'd probably look at the Bee+ as well. I wasn't convinced about the stroller when it first came out in 2009, but the more people talk about it here and the more I see it around in my city the more I am convinced it must be a pretty good stroller.

With all of that said I used to own a Vista. I too was choosing between a Bugaboo Frog/Cameleon, and the Vista. The Vista was an awesome stroller and I pushed my DD1 in it until she was just shy of 4 yrs. old. My main gripe about the Vista was the wheels. I always had uneven wear with them, and that got annoying. They have supposedly fixed a lot of those issues now, but if I had known I was going to have wear issues with my stroller I probably would have gotten the Bugaboo instead. I do think that it might be a tad wider than the Bugaboo, but in my opinion the only way to check them out is to do so in person in a store or hopefully at a store that lets you try them out side first.

[hapimommy]

I only have a vista and a frog, so I hope that comparison can suffice. If I had not wanted the rumbleseat so badly for the vista, I think the frog would have been my first choice. The vista footprint seems much bigger, and is much heavier of a stroller. The frog is lower to the ground, so it gives me a better center of gravity, the frog handles different terrains better because of the air tires. I am short, 5'3", so seeing over the frog is much easier than seeing over the vista to see where I am going. However, the basket on the vista cannot be beat. It is huge! I can fit my fair share of shopping into the frog basket though. The one thing that the vista does not have that I find invaluable is the reversible handle. If I want to go on a trail, I can use the stroller with the larger tires in the front, and if the sun is on dD's face, I can reverse the handle to push her the other way. The vista has a great sunshade, so the sun is not an issue, but the tires do not do well on a trail in a vista. The customer service for uppababy is wonderful though, and sometimes I am glad to have bought the vista just for that experience, and the vista bassinet is fabulous. To sum it up, I think these are the pros for the vista: can take a double seat, huge sunshade, easier fold, better storage, separate bassinet and seat, great cs. The pros for the frog are: reversible handle, off-road capability, lighter, more agile (bumped into less things). Currently my kids are 3.5 and 15 months, and we keep the frog opened in the garage for use everyday. Hth.

[Philly Mom]

Thank you both. If anyone else has experience with both or really just loves one or the other, please let me know why. I have never had either (though I covet a cam).

[NJW]

I have both. The Vista is fine, but it is nothing in terms of quality, push and overall "awesome" as the Cameleon. Its not even a competition.

[AnnieW625]

........ However, the basket on the vista cannot be beat. It is huge! I can fit my fair share of shopping into the frog basket though. The one thing that the vista does not have that I find invaluable is the reversible handle. .....The vista has a great sunshade, so the sun is not an issue, but the tires do not do well on a trail in a vista.

The basket is amazing. When I used to use the stroller with the car seat adaptor I could get two full paper bags full of groceries in that basket. I really regret not taking a photo of it fully loaded then (didn't have a smart phone then).

I thought my Vista did okay on gravel packed trails, that was never much of a complaint for me. It also did well in the snow.

Having to flip the seat around to have the reversable handle didn't bother me at all.

Agree the Vista sun shade is nice.

I also liked that you can fold the Vista without taking the seat off. I don't know if you can do that with a Bugaboo.

[hapimommy]

I never compared the two when i had ds in 2008, mainly because I thought the cam was all hype, and only for the flashy yuppies who wanted to show off. The baby bargains review only fueled my prejudices against it. But now in 2012, my vista awaits the arrival of my cousin's newborn, and my frog (i just had to try it), gets love everyday in our neighborhood with my two kiddos. So if I had to choose one all over again, I would choose the frog or cam over the vista, the push and handling is just so much better with my 40 lb. Ds. I tried to use the vista with him again and was sadly disappointed, and really sore from all of my pushing effort. This coming from a diehard vista fan that has been converted with a 2006 frog.