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MiniMonkey is currently growing at a terrifying rate of knots (8 weeks on Sunday and she's already been holding her head up for weeks!) so I'd really like to get a pushchair that's a bit more suitable for adventures than the current pram thingy we have (which was free, and is grand for popping into town and such, but useless on anything other than smooth tarmac, and definitely a no-no for running).
I'm finding it hard to look past the Out 'n' About Nipper Sport at the moment, which looks like a pretty good combination of performance and price (and folds up reasonably small, which is important in our tiny house).
I currently have saved searches set up for them in various places, though they seem to hold their value pretty well. Has anyone had one / anything similar and could recommend?
I bought one of these off eBay for about £70 https://mountainbuggy.com/uk/Products/buggies/urban-jungle#.XJ4J9KSnyEc
its been perfect for doing park run including running over an old golf course and mud. It’s not overly light but tracks well and the little man seems quite happy. Only negative is the seat even in the fully up is still quite reclined
We had the Out N About Nipper (with 12 inch wheels and pivoting front wheel) and it was great. Still got it now for very occasional use as the youngest is too old for it really.
It would pretty much go anywhere you wanted it to and we really did push it to it's limit a few times. So light and easy to push and great in urban environments too (although the pivoting front wheel was key to that). The only thing I felt it lacked a few times was a proper brake on a lever as it was a bit too easy-roling downhill on occasions.
No direct experience of the Sport, but we have a larger Out n About (Nipper Double I think) and it's a really good buggy.
A friend of ours has what looks like the Sport, and has trained for marathons pushing her daughter in it 🙂
We have the 12" nipper too. It allows us to get out in the forest and is one of the best baby purchases we made.
Don't forget to add slime to the tubes!
Only thing I'd mention, we are due sprog in May, doing the research are they not meant to be in carrycot style majority of time for 1st 6 months?
Might be worth looking into - I know is a lot out there about being in upright seating or in car seats for too long for 1st 6 months also
Edit - just looked at your link and does say 6months+ for jogging.
Had a Out n' About Nipper (not Sport) which would heartily recommend. They are pretty bullet proof - we bought ours used on eBay for less that £120 and have just sold it for £105 after 3 years use.
Cheers all - sounds like I'm looking along the right lines at least.
@northshoreniall Yep I definitely won't be running with her 'till six months, and we'll be using the 'normal' style pram most of the time anyway - I'm just keen to keep an eye out for something so we can get out on woodland trails and tracks as soon as possible. The Out 'n' About ones suggest that they're ok from about 2 months in the fully reclined position, and we're looking at that as being similar to a car seat - so no more than a couple of hours at a time, with a half hour break inbetween.
I picked this Super Jogger up off eBay for £20
It's absolutely bombproof, and the bigger the wheels the better. Not great for anything apart from running as it has a very long wheelbase, but there isn't any terrain which it's struggled with.
That looks ace (long as I don't have to have your physique to use it!).
The wife tells me there is an insert available for the Nipper for new babies. It the seat lays flat too.
Also they do a carrycot attachment for it.
I use a Chariot - for everything. trailer, pram, jogger, offroad walker.
It's brilliant and versatile =.
There was someone running around the mountain bike trails at Hamsterley last weekend with a baby in an "off-road " buggy ..by all means stick to the fire roads if that's your thing ..but running on the purpose built singletrack is just putting you and your child in danger ..( not having a rant at anyone on here ..just a general observation ) ..
I had a look at the Chariot, looks awesome but boy is it spendy! You could buy a bike for that 😉
No plans to run on trail centre trails, don't worry... It'll mostly be on the roads round where I live, plus local footpaths and bridleways in the woods.
Have fun !..
I had my son on a bike seat after a few months ..he always fell asleep in seconds and was quickly whisked back indoors which gave us a bit of a break as he was four years old before sleeping right through the night ..
We have the same problems getting him to have a decent sleep now ..but at sixteen years of age he has slightly outgrown that seat ..
Aye I have a bike seat (WeeRide) ready to go when she's old enough, that one will be getting an airing on (easier) trail centres!
She's actually pretty good at sleeping at the moment, probably 5 nights out of 7 she'll go down from 9 'till 4, which is easily manageable.
Babyjogger summit is worth a look. Ours has been brilliant. We bought it when she was about one so she went straight in the seat, but we regret not getting it right from the off with the carrycot attachment.
The Chariot is spendy but it's by far the best baby purchase I've made.
My justification was that I'd be buying both an off road buggy and a bike trailer for when she's a bit older. Makes sense to combine the two and start using it straight away. Just don't look at the price of the newborn insert/hammock though...
Already planning our first family bike tour!
We have the Nipper Sport, it’s fantastic for off road use although the spring suspension is far too hard and barely moves even on the toughest terrain, with low pressure in the tyres it’s very comfy for them.
It goes pretty much flat and with the newborn insert she was fine in it from 4 days old when we first took her out for an hour at a time. She’s now 6 months and sleeps better the tougher the terrain!
Only negative is it’s useless anywhere but outside due to its long wheel base, navigating shops/cafes is a right pain!
+1 for the Out'n'about nipper. You can run with it on tarmac and tracks, it has a lockable front wheel and can take a bassinet /car seat if you need it to. It copes well on forest tracks and beaches and it's fine around town too. After three flats, I did swap the tyres to Continental tour rides and put Schwalbe tubes with slime in and haven't had a problem since.
We’ve an 8 week old here and for me and mum the carrier (we’ve got a babybjorn one air) is much preferable for our daily walks in the woods than any of our pram options. Would prefer a off road pram at 6 months plus, but for now the carrier seems much better for us.
Chariot is great for off the beaten track and behind the bike. Picked ours up from eBay, done one child of ours, another will be in it soon. Still in good condition and no reason not to get a significant proportion of the spend back on eBay when it’s finished with. Good value.
+1 for nipper sport. Spent loads of time with our little one running off-road. I’d say you definitely need the longer wheelbase and locked front wheel for off-road. Mates have the non sport version and I’d not like to run any distance with that.
Dashed jnr was about 6 months when I started running with him properly and he loved it.
Got a chariot. It’s properly well thought out. They do a sling for newborns as well.
As a travel system, we’ve always used a Babyzen Zen. Truly brilliant device that has been with us all over the world with our three. Everything about it is so clever. It folds small enough to go in the boot of a fiat 500 (without taking the wheels off), but is rugged enough and has large enough wheels to go properly off-road. They’ve stopped making them now, but I think pramworld still has a few. They keep turning up on eBay too.
Meant to say that the chariot is awesome, but it’s HUGE and not really suitable for everyday use.
We used the Chariot for both our youngest, had the towing hitch for use with a bike, and the jogging attachments for running. Using the baby sling means you can use from quite young. Yes, it's spendy, but we got loads of use out of it, got much of our active lives back, and got a good portion of our money back.
Just for comparison, we have a chariot as well. It is great and got a lot of use both pushing off road and as a bike trailer which she still loves.
The babyjogger is a much more practical all round pram. Works well off road, has a lock out for the front wheel for jogging and is good round town/shops etc'. One handed collapse for lifting in the boot as well which is excellent!
We inherited both a single and double o&a nipper 360s which had served friends with 4 kids previously, they're both still going strong and are more than capable for running on smooth surfaces with one or two up. We tried a Phil and Ted's as it gave a narrow double, but it was pretty heavy so sold it on. Off road we joined the ranks with a thule chariot, it's not perfect but it's pretty close. Also got a burley d'lite which was as good, but only a single so will get resurrected when we're down to one little one to tow / push. The O&A have been really brilliant, and as they're relatively cheap you don't worry about treating them quite roughly, but they just keep going.
We have a chariot cx1 for sale with baby sling. PM me for details.
We also have an OnA Nipper.
Running isn't my thing, but see a couple of Sports locally being run with. They seem to have both sets of wheels as see them in town on the little ones too.
A friend has a regular one, worn out a set of tyres on the farm with their 2 kids, but still strong.
Lighter and cheaper than most other alternatives too. Pack small enough to fit in the Panda too.
Babyjogger city elite. We had the double for our twins, then got the single version for our third (8 hour round trip to pick up an eBay bargain they're that good). Pneumatic tyres, suspension, hand operated brake, massive sunshade, lay flat and you can fold it up one handed. Still got it in the garage if you're anywhere near west Yorkshire and want to have a look?
Out and About Nipper - ours is an early version without the pivoting front wheel, but the weight distribution means it’s really easy to manual and therefore steer. Later versions had an adjustable handle, which really only means slop / play when you perform aforementioned manual.
We also have a Double for when we have both nippers at home - way better than the Phil and Teds shite that lives at my parents house.
Big wheels are best - don’t try any off roading with a conventional buggy, it gets boring very quickly...