When I was having my first child I, like many parents wanted to buy the best buggy on the market. I discussed the options with numerous friends and family members before making my decision and most people suggested the Quinny Buzz 3. My husband and I were inclined to buy something which was easy to use and a smooth glider. Luckily for us a generous relative gifted us a brand new Quinny Buzz 3, and as we were living in a slightly more rural part of England at the time, it suited us, and most importantly, our new born baby. It just started getting very tiresome when my little one started getting bigger and I started getting, well let's just say, smaller (by the waist!)
Quinny Buzz 3
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| Quinny Buzz 3 |
First off the Quinny Buzz is not light, it weighs in at 12.8kg, as it's made primarily for heavy use and has all-terrain tyres. This is great for parents who live hilly areas, or where you need a little more leverage and help. It also has a unique automatic 'gas-spring' unfolding system which makes it easy to build up, but it takes an awful lot of work when trying to put it back together again. I've had a few tricky situations where my fingers almost got caught in the latches. Having said that, the pushchair seat is detachable which allows for the car seat to be popped on and off the chassis with a single move. It's super easy to use with a young baby - but only till the age of about six months, when most babies need a little more leg room. It's also inadvisable to keep the baby in a car seat for long periods as it can place strain on their developing spine, so you do have to switch to the pushchair quite soon.
Once they're on the seat, the great thing about the Quinny Buzz for toddlers is it's comfortable padded seat and adjustable leg rest; and my daughter never struggled to get into the pushchair as it was so comfy, even if she was in it for long periods (though this was usually no longer than an hour.) The clip on bag was also a handy and well-thought-out add-on, but with a tiny basket underneath I think they needed to add something substantial - and the bag certainly made life a lot easier.
One of the biggest design flaws with the pushchair is that you cannot fold the buggy down with the pushchair in it, so you have to keep adjusting the seat to the correct position, remove the seat, and then fold down the chassis. Now if you have a big enough car boot this isn't such a big problem as you'll have space to put the chassis in one section and the seat in another. But most cars (and I think mine has a fairly large boot!) wont allow for the two to go in without removing the two back wheels first. This can be a complete nightmare when trying to get in and out of places quickly with a toddler, or even worse, a baby who still can't walk. I believe this flaw has now been corrected with Quinny's latest Moodd.
The second issue is that although a universal buggy board may be fitted on to the Quinny Buzz it is not very practical. As the board and mechanism to fix the board on in the first place is so large it is a bit awkward to maneuver. Second, the chassis cannot be folded down once the board is on. So again, you have to remove it first and then close the chassis. So not only would you have to remove the pushchair, and the wheels, you'd have to disassemble the board as well. All in all, this would take around ten minutes - and I'm sure most mums will agree, this is ten minutes we cannot afford to lose!
In comparison, we've now decided to buy the Bugaboo Bee this time (don't worry, we gave away the Quinny so it's not just gathering dust in our buggy collection!) I was very reluctant to buy the Bugaboo the first time around primarily because I associated it with 'generation bling' mothers, but I really wish I had done a little more research at the time.
Bugaboo Bee+
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| Bugaboo Bee+ |
But best of all the Bugaboo range comes with it's own Wheeled Board, which is very easy to put on and take off (it took me about five minutes to assemble it) and once it's there then there's no need to take it off and the buggy will collapse and assemble up with the Board still on it. You can remove the board with one action and then fold the buggy down if you like.
The pushchair also comes with a buggy bag that you can buy separately and save a little space in the basket underneath, which like the Quinny is on the small size. But you can get shopping clips and a cup holder that makes life much easier when you're on the go!
**UPDATE**
Having had the baby now I'm absolutely loving the Bugaboo. Z loves the Wheeled board as it makes her feel like she is pushing her little baby around. She's even able to use the cup holder conveniently. Although a little on the longer side, the buggy maneuvers fantastically and is a dream to ride!
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