Renting a stroller?
My neighbors have a schmancy BOB double stroller - not sure exactly what the model is called, but it's a jogging stroller that I think cost maybe $500 or more (it was a gift to them). We borrowed the stroller to put DS and DD #2 in (DD #1 prefers to walk) when we went to a county fair a few weeks ago. It sort of looks like this, though again, I'm not sure what model they actually have.
That thing was awesome. And - when DD #1 got sluggish - she even sat on the front of it just for the walk back to the car (she sort of sat in the middle towards the front). We rolled over dirt, mud, gravel, up hill and down dale - it was so easy to push, even with all three kids on it.
So - we're going to a fair this weekend - and we want to borrow it again - but I feel slightly weird to ask them again. The first time we borrowed it we said we wanted to "test drive" it to see if we wanted to buy one (which was true).
But those things are $$$ - and we are really trying to cut back on spending. On Craigs List I don't see BOB double jogging strollers. I assume that they are the type of item that show up on CL and disappear two minutes later.
Can I rent a double jogging stroller? I anticipate using one maybe 3-4 times this Fall going to pumpkin patches and stuff. I just don't see spending $500 - $800 on one that we use 3 times.
What do you guys suggest? Anyone have a great double jogging stroller they want to rent to me? 
Re: Renting a stroller?
I don't have ideas on rentals but I'm sure they must have them in this area. As far as Craigslist, I watched it for months hoping to get a good deal on the City Mini double stroller. Most people were selling them for about 80-90% of retail so it really wasn't that great of a deal. If there ever was a really good deal, it went very fast. So, I ended up buying a new 2010 model for $300.
If you wanted, you could set up a Craigslist alert to keep an eye out for them (see below for how to do that). The other option is that you could buy a double stroller with the plan of selling it later. If you keep it in decent condition, you should be able to get about 80% of your money back. We use our stroller a lot for walks in the neighborhood in addition to events like the ones you describe.
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Here's how you set up Google alerts for Craigslist:
Go to: https://www.google.com/alerts and set up a new alert.
Then enter the site you want to search and the search terms in this format:
site:<URL> <search terms>
So for example, here's how I did it when I was looking for a swing set.
site:https://washingtondc.craigslist.org swing set
Do you have a double stroller at all? There are much cheaper models... maybe not quite as awesome as the BOB, but still better than nothing! I've heard good things about the In Step jogging strollers and it looks like they make a double for under $200. https://www.babystrollercity.com/instep_double_jogging_stroller_345.html
The stroller you're talking about is a BOB Duallie. It's terrific. We LOVE ours. I tried to get one on CL but you're right, they don't turn up much on there or when they do, they are sold really fast or they are going for nearly full price. If you can splurge and get one, at least know that down the line, you should be able to sell it for a really good price.
They don't go on sale often, but you can sometimes get them on discount at REI or LLBean. I think if you become members of REI or something you get a 20% coupon that you can use on a BOB, but I'm not 100% sure on that. You might also try posting a wanted add on CL to see if someone responds who might be thinking of selling one.
I have a single BOB, so I definitely understand the appeal. Maybe you could buy the BOB dualie and sell your Joovy to recoup some of the costs, and then sell the BOB in a couple of years when you don't need it anymore? If you can get 75% of the cost back by reselling it, that's not so bad. We bought our BOB at REI with a 20% coupon.
That's really nice! I'm in Springfield. My email is artslvr74 at gmail - maybe we can take it for a test ride this weekend.
we have the BOB double - you are welcome to borrow ours
This is really nice! My email is artslvr74 at gmail if you want ot drop me a note - maybe between you and pp I can at least borrow one for this weekend!
We have a city mini double and a Bob single. Shoot me a gmail if you ever need to borrow. We definitely don't use them every day.