Beats Bill and Ted every time! (Phil & Teds E3)

Member Name: Smokindave

Product:	Phil & Teds E3
Date:	14/09/09 (217 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Robust, small double buggy, quick to assemble, very adaptable.

Disadvantages: Rear view restricted, rain hood not easy to set up.

Our children were born a mere thirteen months apart, and so it was evident that we would need a buggy system to cope with this set up. I remember spending hours trawling the internet to find the perfect solution. We wanted a buggy that would obviously hold both our two kids securely and comfortably, but also be easy for us to push and essentially have a footprint that would allow access through standard doorways and shop isles without attracting abuse from anyone who happened to get in the way. Did the Phil and Ted tick all those boxes? Well yes it did and more besides.

We paid around the £400 mark for the complete kit from a small independent outlet in Leeds. When we bought ours they were very rare in this country and so the major retailers had not picked up on it yet. Now I see them everywhere including Mothercare, but do bear in mind that the basic buggy costs around £365 (single) you have to purchase the extra seat attachment to make it a double. There are also other extra attachments and accessories which can be purchased, such as the rain hood and cocoon.

We bought just about everything, and I think in hindsight this was a good decision, not only because they were nearly all useful but also because my mother-in-law was paying! So what do you get for your hard earned cash? Well to start with the buggy now comes in a range of colours; we only had the choice of the navy pictured above or a garish red I think. So navy it was then. Next came, the extra seat attachment of course, a rain cover and a cocoon for transporting babies. So with the package complete and unpacked how did it all fit together?

Well to start with there are several ways in which the buggy can be used. Our starting point was with a newborn and a one year old and so we used this set up, which consisted of a flat canvas platform for the baby and then an attachment seat above for the older child. The optional cocoon, made from a tough canvas is essential for a newborn in our opinion as you can place the baby in this first and then position all into the buggy. This makes the whole process of lifting the child in and out really easy as the cocoon has handles. We found that we could easily lift our sleeping baby in or out without waking her.

So with the baby sorted, next comes the older child option. Like most tubular equipment, any pieces that need to be joined in some way are achieved by the use of little spring catches which click into a suitable hole in the second piece. This buggy uses these throughout. I have mixed feelings about this method as sometimes they can be awkward to operate. I found this one reassuringly easy yet secure, which was a bonus. So the seat attachment clicks into place at two points above the baby and there is the standard five point harness which secures them safely in place.

When your baby gets to an age when they can sit up then you can lift and secure the canvas platform up and snap the other seat attachment into place. Now this is the only minor disadvantage we have found with the buggy; the fact that the child who sits in the back position does not have a great view, other than the seat in front. One other thing to note is that the heavier child must always go on the top/front seat, otherwise the buggy could tip backwards; logical really, but we have had the odd moment of minor panic especially when the wrong child has got out first!

The rain cover is a bit of a hassle also, but then again we have found this with a lot of buggies to be fair. It does have quite a lot of clips and fasteners and so takes a lot of setting up. Not so handy for the good old British sunshine and shower routine!

Although it has been a while since we needed the use of a buggy, I remember how handy and useful we found it. For a double buggy it can be collapsed down to a very small size. The wheels can also be taken off, which we found essential for packing into the boot of the car for going on holiday. For quick trips though it folds quickly and easily, although you do have to remove the back attachment first, if you are using it that way. The brakes are good and lock a gear in the wheel rather than on the tyre which I found to be more secure. The most important feature though has to be the fact that this three wheeled buggy even when loaded with two toddlers handled beautifully. There was hardly anywhere we could not take it, doors and shop isles were a doddle. We used to get stopped in the street and questioned about where we got the buggy from, but as I said this was in the early days before they became commonplace. I would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone who has two young children close in age. It may be quite a lot of money to outlay initially (if you can't talk your mother-in-law round) but when the time came we sold ours on ebay for over £300, so that is worth bearing in mind.

Summary: A great all round buggy for those with two small kids close in age.