On the road: It-buggies put through paces
Forget the gleaming red sports cars – the four-wheeled mean machines creating the most envy on the high street right now are… prams. These aren’t just any prams though: they’re double prams – de rigeur for London parents forced to nanny share to reduce extortionate childcare costs; or, having left it later to start a family, have children closer together.
Bugaboo last month launched its first double buggy – The Donkey. With a starting price tag of £1,099 it is the first UK pram to break through the £1,000 mark and its arrival puts it in direct competition with Phil & Teds. (The brand which, until now, has been the main provider of high-end double prams to the capital’s yummy mummies.)
Hot on Bugaboo’s heels, Phil & Teds’ latest double – Verve 4WD inline – also happens to have just launched.
With healthy competition in mind, we decided to give each a test run. (We were lucky to get them, it turns out. The much-hyped Donkey – described by the New York Daily News as a “pimped out must-have, hotter than the iPad2”– was in such demand that our expert testers – my son James, and a colleague’s one-year old Stanley were only granted a 24-hour spin.) Here’s how we fared.
BUGABOO DONKEY
With all the excitement, I was hoping the Donkey had some remote-control device enabling us to send our testers off on a pre-programmed jaunt while we sipped coffee in a cafe. Sadly not, but it was incredibly manoeuvrable – possible to steer one-handed while sipping afore-mentioned coffee and very flexible in terms of configuration. You can convert from double to single use – and vice-versa – and have any mix of seat, carrycot or car seat positioned parent-facing or forward facing – or with the babies facing each other. It’s also very easy to recline the seats to a sleeping position – perfect for when snoozling time arrives. For a double, it’s unusually narrow – just 74cm wide – allowing it to fit through any modern building doors, but a bit of a squeeze on narrower City ones. It bumped down steps easily enough, but – unsurprisingly – as a double was heavy to take up steps. Folding it down was easy even with both seats on, but it was still quite large when closed up. And, if you made use of the large, detachable shopping basket – which comes with the pram – you would take up even more space.
Cost: The Mono is £899. This includes a chassis, 1 carry cot fabric set, 1 seat unit fabric set, under seat basket, side basket, and rain cover. Duo is £1,099. This includes a chassis, one carry cot fabric set, two seat unit fabric sets, a storage basket, an under seat basket and rain covers; Twin £1,219, this includes a chassis, 2 carry cot fabric sets, 2 seat unit fabric sets, storage basket, under seat basket and rain covers.
Pros: Easy to convert for one or two kids, lshopping/storage space, easy to steer, reversible seats, one-handed seat-recline.
Cons: Feels quite heavy, big when folded, expensive.
PHIL & TEDS VERVE
Phil & Teds’ Verve comes with a tagline “kids are optional, style is not”, and offers similar flexibility to the Donkey with the ability to convert to a double from a single. With four wheels – two foam filled at the front and two pneumatic ones at the rear, it is equally manoeuvrable. The main difference is that this pram is stacked, with one child on top and one underneath, causing an immediate problem for my son and his friend Shiven – also 23 months – who both fought over who got to ride on the top. James won, and Shiven, though closer to the ground, had enough space to see well from either side of the pram. His seat was easy to slide into the frame, but slightly harder to get him into it once attached with the limited space underneath. Again, it was possible to steer it with just one hand, but it did feel long and was hard to judge potential obstacles on the ground at the front of the pram, before you went over them. Again, it felt heavy taking it up stairs. But its folding mechanism is simple and it can fit easily into a mid-sized car boot. A key advantage was a handlebar, rather than a foot-operated, brake – making it incredibly easy to lock into place regardless of your footwear. It also allows you to recline the seat as much or as little was you want with a string and a toggle – making it very flexible for tots fussy about sleeping positions.
Cost: Phil & Teds Verve 4WD inline is £599.95. Kit to convert pram into a double is £109.95. A carrycot for the pram (Peanut) is £149.95.
Pros: Can attach second seat, easy to fold even with second seat on, can stand when folded, easy-to-use hand-operated brake, big shopping basket.
Cons: Feels long when pushing, heavy taking upstairs.