Why couldn´t they have a normal one like every one else? (Mountain Buggy All Terrain)

Member Name: Ise-Ise

Product:	Mountain Buggy All Terrain
Date:	02/08/01 (1808 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stylish, lightweight

Disadvantages: AWKWARD!!!, Lack of space, Difficult to maneouvre

I have just finished au pairing for a young and (well it has to be said) trendy couple in Vienna. Naturally they had to have an all terrain buggy with three wheels rather than your bog standard one like every one else.

These three wheelers are becoming increasingly popular espescially in America because they are more rugged than a normal four wheeler (and can be used to jog at the crack of dawn and have some quality time with child). The buggy itself has a sturdy light weight, metal frame and three large tyres which cut through mud and stoney areas no problem (if I carry on much onger I am going to start sounding like some one on a shopping channel). These tyres have more grip on them than formula one slicks and certainly do the job. The buggy also has a small pocket at the back to store litte fiddly bits and pieces (handy for mobile phone and wallet, I found) and also a thick material holder between the wheels for buckets and spades etc, although this is no where near the same size as other pushchairs and gets even smaller if you change seat position. It comes with a hand brake that slows it down when on the move (I never used it once and found that the cable got hooked on thing like tricycles) and a foot-applied brake to keep it stationary for a longer period of time.

The light weight frame does make it easy to push,but because all of the wheels are in a fixed place, you have to push the handle down to raise the front wheel a little before you can change direction. If you have not got much space to maneouvre in (like the underground) I would not suggest taking it. Another problem I found with it´s design was that the front wheel sticks out and makes the whole thing much longer. The shape is quite awkward and although there are clips at the side to fold it down, it is not really what you could call compact, the only thing that happens is that the handle flips forward. It seems to take up most of the boot space when it is packed in.


As well as a foot rest to stop said child´s feet from being caught in front wheel, there are two positions for the seat; sitting and sleeping. You can alter the position by unzipping the sides and letting the back down (like those bags where the sides have a cunning extra compartment hidden away which you can unzip thus making the bag twice the size), but I found that this disturbs the groggy child. Because the zips are on the inside, you have to move the child out of the way to get at them. The canopy can be moved forward and back and there is also a handy clear plastic window through which you can watch the (hopefully) sleeping child.

I can imagine if you only want to go jogging with your offspring, this very stylish buggy would be excellent. But for the rest of us, I actually found it awkward and a hinderance rather than a help. For Madonna, yes, for us lot wanting to go to the shops, no thanks. Because I did not buy it I am not sure of the price, but I can´t imagine it was cheap..... Maybe we brought it on our selves, it is, afterall an all terrain buggy and they lived in the middle of a city!

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