City mini gt or city select?

Felicity86

I'm having so much trouble deciding between these strollers. What did you choose and why? I like that the cs is so narrow and will hold two carseats but I worry about my twins getting too tall for it. I like how easy the bjcm is to fold and it seems like it would be better for toddlers.

kj002f

This probably won't help at all, but I have both and like them for completely different reasons.  My twins are almost 16 months now and we've used both since the beginning.  

I much prefer the select for shopping - I find it so much easier to maneuver through the aisles and through checkout lanes.  I also like that I can have them facing each other if I want them to entertain each other, or both facing outward which is my favorite position (one towards me, one towards the direction the stroller is going).  It was super handy with the two carseats (I used chicco keyfits) and I much preferred it to the double snap n go.  I also drive a super small car and it fits so easily in the trunk.  I find the fold to be very quick and easy but I've done it so many times it's old hat now.  I do take both seats off every time but it rarely takes more than a couple seconds to take them off and put them back on.  I also love that on the rare occasion that I go out with only 1 kid that I can easily switch it to a single stroller (and I hope to use it for a future kid this way too).

I don't like the select at all for walks and we go on lots of them.  I much prefer the mini for this reason.  It pushes SOOOO much easier up even the smallest of hills and maneuvers very well.  It does take up a lot more room in the trunk of our car, but again my car is tiny.  It's a great stroller.  I do take it out in public/shopping areas every now and then and I've probably met about 3 elevators and 2 door ways that we didn't fit through - but they were in strange, old buildings so that's very, very rarely a problem.  I will say that when my kids got to sitting age they started to not love this stroller so much until I got the belly bar and now they seem to like it just fine again.  Oh and we also find this stroller much better for the zoo and places like that since both kids can easily see things.

The stroller thing is a hard decision - I agonized about it for months. 

 

 

 

Felicity86

Thanks. This is the general response I've been getting, but I just don't think we can afford both. If I get the select, maybe I'd get a cheaper double umbrella for later on. I plan on walking pretty frequently with the twins on paved trails, so maybe the gt? Have you ever attempted grocery shopping with a city mini? Is this feasible? This is such a hard decision!!

keg

After having made it through the stroller stage with my 2 and having a bunch of different ones, here's what I'd go with if I had to do it all over again:

--DSNG

--City Mini

--Ergo (or similar carrier)

I didn't have the City Select, but I had a similar type tandem (Phil and Ted's Sport).  I loved that thing from about 9 to 18 months.  After that, DDs started fighting over who was in front and back and the back person started kicking the front person.  A side by side gets easier at that point.  I also love that the City Mini seats had a separation in the middle so it's more difficult for them to bug each other.  I had a Combi and we had some hair pulling incidents early on.   I didn't do a ton of shopping with my side by side, but it's definitely do-able.  Side by side strollers are about the width of wheelchairs so any store that is handicap accessible should work with a City Mini.  Of course, if you live in a big city, you may run into some narrower stores.

For situations in which a side by side isn't ideal, I love my Ergo.  I would put one girl on my back and then put the other in a single shopping cart or a cheapo single umbrella stroller.  It's also great around the house when you have a clingy toddler and still want to get something done.  

kj002f

Felicity86:

Thanks. This is the general response I've been getting, but I just don't think we can afford both. If I get the select, maybe I'd get a cheaper double umbrella for later on. I plan on walking pretty frequently with the twins on paved trails, so maybe the gt? Have you ever attempted grocery shopping with a city mini? Is this feasible? This is such a hard decision!!

If you plan on doing a lot of walking, even on paved trails, I'd definitely recommend the mini over the select.  I have been grocery shopping with it and it's always been ok in big stores - walmarts, costcos, chain grocery stores, etc. unless it's really busy and then I kind of feel like I'm in the way, but any stroller is annoying at that point.  Like keg said, you may have problems in smaller stores if you live in a city or something like that (I currently live overseas and sometimes have to shop it more mom n pop kind of places - that is hard with the mini, sometimes impossible because we literally don't fit through the check out - but that's never happened at a normal store in the US).

Another thing to consider is if you ever plan on flying with it.  We travel a lot and almost exclusively take the mini with us because it's all one piece - some (or all?  I'm not sure) airlines won't let you gate check a stroller that's more than one piece and the select is considered 3 pieces when you have the second seat attached.  We did fly with it once with the infant seat carriers and that wasn't a problem because we just took the seat adaptors on board with us and gate checked the frame.

 And I totally get not being able to get both - we wouldn't have both if one hadn't been a gift.