A sporty crimson red MacLaren Techno XT
Me I'm sitting pretty in my Bugaboo Frog
Swivel wheel suspension so I sleep like a log
And my five point harness keeps me buckled in tight
And the XT's gunning as we wait for the light
And the wheels start spinning"
Stroller Town
Johnathon Coulton
(Who'd have guessed there is a song about prams? )
I've never owned a Maclaren or a Bugaboo for that matter (I just don't get the Bugaboo thing!) but I have owned roughly 20 (ish) prams over the last 21 years and 5 babies.
A Jane bribon, a jogger from Bigw, a beautiful foreign pram (beautiful but not very long lasting), 2 different double prams, and quite a few Steelcraft prams.
So when I was pregnant this time, after an 11 year break, I went straight to the Steelcraft website and the Strider caught my eye straight away. I barely looked at anything else after that, I'd seen some people with Striders at the Baby expo in Brisbane and loved the look of them. (If I'd spent more time looking I may have been lured away by Baby Jogger).
I ordered one online and when it arrived I told my husband - "A woman designed this pram"! So many great features! I loved the big basket, the water bottle holder down the bottom and the bag on the back of the seat.
The Strider is heavy though, and even though I've rarely folded mine and we don't drive so I don't have to fit it in a car, after 18 months it seemed very heavy once you put an 11 kg toddler in it.
Miss H didn't like how it made her sit back, she was always trying to lean forward in it. When she was a baby I always though she looked uncomfortable when the seat was laid back, the seat shape is just not quite right somehow?
I also have an Emmaljunga I bought secondhand for $50. I'd always wanted one and thought it was a steal for $50. We used it as a bassinette during the day in the lounge room for the first 2 months or so, and have never really used it with the seat part attached, but I can't bear to part with it.
I also bought a cheap umbrella fold lay back stroller from Target as a traveling pram, if we were going somewhere that would mean folding up the pram and for using on Brisbane buses etc. I put a lot of time into choosing the right stroller too, it had to lie-back, have a basket, have a liner and have a rain cover. I thought I'd ticked all the boxes until the first time we used it in the rain and discovered the rain cover hangs from the edge of the hood, so the rest of the stroller gets soaking wet! The wheels spin on shined floors like the ones in shopping centres too, so it just annoyed me from the start.
So when I started making noises about wanting another pram, my husband said "Do you really need to buy a new pram?" and then "Well why don't you try and win one then?".
So I spent a while the next day searching for competitions to enter. A week later I found my name listed as a winner. I'd won a Rozibaby pram!
I chose all black as the options and air filled tyres in the 3 wheel design. The Rozibaby arrived this week and I have been testing it. So far I love the way it moves, it feels so light that I keep checking MissH is still in there! I can push it with one hand! It doesn't feel like I'm pushing a huge weight. It has the same floorspace in length as the Strider but it a bit narrower, so it fits better down aisles and on the bus.
MissH seems to like the seat, it's a bit more upright then the Strider.
The basket doesn't hold as much, there's no bag on the back and no water bottle holder or liner. The rain cover is quite good with a window which MissH might like as she hates raincovers. I used the suncover today and it is very easy to put on, the Strider one always confused me.
I can't see MissH as I'm pushing the pram, there is a bit of a gap between the seat and the handle. The brakes are a bit fiddly to get used to and need to be checked as the pram would keep rolling very easily.
It's a bit easier to tip backwards then the Strider was. I haven't actually folded it up yet, but from what I can tell from the Rozibaby website, the seat has to be removed to fold it.
The negatives are definitely made up for by the lightness, it's at least 4kg lighter then the Strider and so much easier to push.
I'd never heard of Rozibaby before I entered the competition, though there was one used in episodes of "House Husbands", with all red options. There are accessories available on the website, like a handy travel bag for the pram.
I'm not sure I'm ready to part with my Strider just yet (though the Target stroller's days might be numbered) but so far I'm pretty happy with the Rozibaby.
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