Jogging Stroller vs. Travel Systems
gillbritton
member
DH and I were at BRU last night trying to pick out a stroller. We really liked the Graco Signature one, but it is a lot more expensive than our other top choices, and it didn't have THAT much more going for it. So, we think we've narrowed it down to the Graco Quatto Tour stroller/car seat. We really like Graco since the car seat will hold up to 35 lbs as opposed to the 22 lb limit of other other companies.
Now, I'm big on word of mouth. I don't buy based on advertising, but more on the reviews I find online and things I hear from family/friends who's opinions I trust. I thought I had heard somewhere that the jogging strollers were bulkier, heavier, and didn't fold very easily/compactly. However, a good friend said she hadn't heard that at all. So far, I've written jogging stollers off entirely because of what I'd heard, but now I'm wondering if I was doing myself a disservice.
Is there anyone out there who can send me some feedback?
Re: Jogging Stroller vs. Travel Systems
I believe the opposite. Travel systems to me are huge and bulky. I chose not to get one because with my nephew we only used the travel system stroller when he was in the infant seat and until he could sit up in a smaller stroller. To me it was a huge waste of money for a few months use. It took up my sisters whole trunk so she didn't like keeping it in there and on trips couldn't with baggage also included. I bought a jogging stroller because I like that the larger wheels are easier to use on grass and gravel which is where we will mostly be using the stroller. We will also have an umbrella stroller for when we want something even smaller.
I never really considered a jogging stroller when I was pregnant with DD, so I don't have much to say on that.
But, I LOVE my travel system. We got the Chicco Cortina & we still use it. I loved being able to just pop in the infant seat & go when DD was an infant. That made it nice when she was sleeping while we were out & about. We still use our stroller for all of our outings. I'm only 5'1 & have never thought it was bulky or heavy.
Strollers are hard to give advise on because everyone uses them for very different things. as long as you dont need all terrain wheels I think either of those will be fine... one thing to think about is how soon you plan on a second baby, I wish I would have thought about it because my LOs will be 16 months appart so I will be needing a double stroller.
when I looked into doubles, I decided on the baby jogger city select, which is a single that converts to a double, but it has a lot of nice features. If you like the Graco signature you might like the city select, it is expensive too, but you can convert it to a double if the need for that would ever be in your plans, and it can take graco car seats.
The same for us. I love my Chicco Cortina. I just took my daughter for a walk around the block on Monday. I loved that I was able to just snap the carrier in and go when she was a baby. We bought a Joovy Caboose Ultralight and Baby Jogger City Mini Double. I haven't put the City Mini together, but I have seen them folded up and they seem pretty compact for a double. My caboose is about the same size as the Cortina folded.
I like my big stroller with my big basket to put everything in, but maybe that's just me. I bought a Maclaren and hated that the basket was so tiny and it felt flimsy, even though it was $200+.
Because of this I have decided to just get a Snap n Go for the infant car seat and afterwards I will be using a Maclaren umbrella- I do not have an "all terrain" lifestyle and got a great deal on my Maclaren. I do not want to make a big investment now since I am unsure how quickly we will have LO #2- I plan to address that later.
So I guess the question is- does the weight of a travel system bother you? Does your car accommodate one easily? And finally in what environments do you anticipate using your stroller? Clearly the only right answer for this question is the one that works for you and your family! GL!
I agree with PP that it depends a lot upon what you plan to do with your stroller. DS was born in April and I had a long maternity leave so I spent the whole spring and summer taking him on long walks to the park, the mtns., etc. We went to the mall maybe twice in those first 6 months (I'm not really a mall person), so we did very little indoor walking. When I did need to run errands, I took him in the baby bjorn/ergo carrier or used the snap-n-go with his infant carseat.
With that background in mind, I was really happy with our set-up: a graco infant seat + snap-n-go for errands (the snap-n-go was a really bouncy ride on sidewalks/asphalt so I only used it indoors), a BOB stroller for all outdoor/longer walks, and a cheapo umbrella stroller from Target for travel (once DS was old enough to sit up).
We bought a jogging stroller (but a carseat goes it in as well, so I guess it is a travel system too) because it is what we really wanted. We haven't tested it out yet, but spent plenty of time rolling it around the store and we even folded it up and put it in the back of our vehicle.
I can say that the jogging stroller is very large and bulky when folded up, but that didn't stop us from getting the one we wanted. This is what we got and I hope I love it as much as I did in the store! With the 20% coupon it saved us like $44 dollars too, so it was like $194 total.
https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10870672
This is the system I had with my first and for the price it is a good stroller, however, if you are a serious runner/jogger(Im guessing not since you are debating) you might want different stroller. We loved this stroller, and for us the folding size wasnt a problem cause i have an SUV, but it DOES NOT fit in my MIL or baby sitters car... period... not with the wheels off, it just isnt going in their trunk. So if you have a compact car this stroller probably isnt the one for you, but if you have a bigger car or SUV, it is worth considering.
Why not a jogger travel system?
Thats what we got from Baby Trend and we really like it. Yes, joggers are "bigger" strollers...but I don't feel they are any bigger than a regualer travel system stroller. It folds up nice and is perfect for us, for city sidewalks and off sidewalk trails.
The carrier part is also very nice and comfortable to carry (as comfortable as you can be carrying something like that...)
The one we got wasn't expensive, $160 and has great reviews, it had over 30 reviews on Walmart and they were all positive.
Just something to think about.
I'm not a serious jogger, but we liked it for the fact that we can take it on rougher trails (as opposed to just sidewalks). We like to get outdoors a lot and this just seemed like a good fit (I hope). Glad to hear that you loved it!
When I had my first bay (whose now 25 months), I researched strollers for MONTHS. We decided to just use one of those snap on strollers for the first 6 months. Since he couldn't sit up on his own, we felt that a regular stroller wouldn't really be needed. And since he was in his infant car seat for all stroller rides, the snap on was a dream. It was so small and light weight and barely took up any space in my car. We used only that for the first 6 months. I would highly advise against the travel systems...they are so bulky. Every mom I knew who had one really regretted it.
Then, when my son was 6 months old, and since I knew we'd be having a second baby eventually, I decided to get the Baby Jogger City Select, which I could use as a single stroller until we had the 2nd baby, and then convert it into a double. Best.Decision.Ever. LOOOOOVE it.