Baby Joggers, opinions please.

you do get what you pay for. i have had a total of 5 strollers/trailers (burley d'lite, baby jogger single, dreamer design rebound single, tike tech double trouble, and b.o.b. ironman duallie). if i had it all to do it over again, and if money was of no concern, i would get a burley d'lite and two bob ironmans (a single and a double). i would consider the chariot seriously if i knew it was easy to convert. i don't drive, so i use the burley constantly in the summer, and wouldn't want to monkey with it every time i needed to get somewhere or do a workout. having the seperate trailer and the jogging strollers has been very nice. however, the chariot, despite its high price, is still a deal compared to getting a good, solid trailer, and two good running strollers.

i actually broke the frame on our first double jogger. in some ways, these things are like suvs. some are made to go off road and haul lots of weight and put up with a lot, but most are made just for light use. i don't know anything about the schwinn, but i do know that costco tends to carry fairly nice stuff. we got our rainbow play system there at a very good savings. a few things to think about -

1. how will you use it most? if you think you'll be doing lots of running and only an occational bike ride, you might be better off getting the cheaper trailer and investing in a good RUNNING jogging stroller.

2. does it have tracking adjustment? whatever you get, make sure you can adjust the tracking for running. even a slight pull to the right or left will make you crazy, even on a short run. if you can't adjust the tracking, your sanity, your workout, and the frame itself will suffer.

3. do you have the time (and patience) to convert it for each use? if you want to use it to be both a bike trailer and a jogger, realize that you will have to switch stuff around every time and this may effect the tracking. you will not be able to just head out the door, but may need to spend 15-30 minutes every time setting up your equipment (and also time getting the kids all set).

4. what is the warranty like? check and see what the warranty is on the frames, and call and see how long it would take to send a replacement if something did break. you should also check to see if you need to register your stroller in order for them to honor the warranty. it was in the fine print with our first (actually, it wasn't even in the fine print or on anything that came with the stroller, it was part of the companies website!), and we were almost out $300, but after some discussion they did honor the warranty. with our first double jogger, it took over 6 months to get a replacement (luckily, we had already planned on buying a RUNNING jogging stroller anyway).

5. will your kids be comfortable? get your kids to a store that carries the models you are thinking about. we just got a dreamer design single stroller, but had to rule it out when looking for a double last winter, because the height of the child seating area was already too short for our tall 4 year old. if your child is uncomfortable, no one will have a good time. plus, they get more excited about it if they get to help decide.

6. what is storage like? for things like snacks and water bottles for the kids, water for your, extra layers, diaper bag (if they are still in diapers), room for a weather shield and blanket?

okay, time for breakfast! best of luck in your choice!

Edited by autumn 2006-01-25 7:47 AM

All the joggers I know are adults...it would be hard to comment on babies, but I don't think it's a good idea for them to...OH, now I see.

I have a Bell brand that I bought at a K-Mart close out. I've used it for about 4 years now and it's taken a BEATING and still works fine. The only problem is the brake cable has stretched and it doesn't work very well. An easy fix, I just find other things to fill my time. The stroller has held up well, especially considering what I paid for it ~$50 I think. I was only hoping to get a season's training out of it initially but it's held up well so far. So, price isn't always a consideration. Or maybe I just got lucky.

I think the best thing to do if you can is buy a bike trailer AND a jog stroller. I tried several convertable models and ended up buying both. They were erither a joy to run with and sucked behind the bike or they pulled easy and sucked to run with. I got my Bell jog stroller at costco for like $99 and my bike trailer for like $125 on sale at the LBS both work great and have many happy miles. I guess my point is when you buy a combo item like this you always get a compromise between what will make the best bike trailer vs. the best jog stroller (usually the front wheel placement). if you can I'd buy one of each.

have you had the chariot? i've heard pretty good things about that one. i agree with you though, especially if you're planning on taking the kids along more than once a week.

My wife and I purchased the cougar2 last year and have loved it. I think that it is the best bike trailer on the market.

We initially looked at getting the Burley d'lite but it seemed cheaply made compared to the Chariot. The one advantage that I would give to the Burley is that it has more room for storage behind the child compartment.

We also have the jogger attachment and stroller attachment. Switching between the 3 attachments is easy and can be done in a matter of seconds.
It works well as a jogger and can be adjusted if there is a issue with tracking straight (track adjustment do require a small wrench).

Hope that helps

when i worked at a bike shop, we rented out the burleys. they took a royal beating and kept on rolling. burley trailers are VERY well made and hold their value. its hard to find a used one for much less than you would pay for a brand new one. we've had ours for over 4 years and have put loads of miles on it w/o any problem. we have friends who have had both and who have said the quality is comparable. fyi - burley is made in the us, chariots are made in canada.