travel systems strollers

1. Posted: Nov 16 2007

   This was the first stroller we bought for our baby, but we no longer use it due to several design flaws that turned out to be deal-breakers. First the good stuff: The height of the child seat or bassinet (they call it the "baby bag") is wonderful for a variety of reasons. The stroller is quite stable despite the height of the seat. The stair climbing feature - the rear wheels fold under -is great. The optional bag that sits on the lower platform (spare seat?) is very useful. Great for putting heavy things in while going shopping. The stroller can double as a child seat in restaurants. Easy to remove and wash fabric parts. Good warranty service. Now the bad: My main point - the design of the stroller around the single aluminum support beam has created some design limitations that they have had to work around, and their workarounds are not very good in many cases. The Baby Bag is too short, and the cutout for the beam makes it even shorter practically. Our child had outgrown it by 4 months and we had to put him in the seat and recline it instead, which was not ideal. The foot rest is very badly thought out - it needs to be removed entirely from the seat in order to change from forward to rear-facing (again, this is because of the beam), and it requires three hands to adjust or remove it - one for each of the catches on the left and right sides, and another to move the rest. Last time I checked I only had two hands. This wouldn't be much of a problem if it weren't necessary to change between forward and rear facing so often, but since the seat will not recline very much in the forward-facing position (the beam again) you will find yourself executing this maneuver regularly. I don't know why they didn't design the footrest in two parts, that could fold like on a wheelchair, so it could clear the beam without having to remove the rest. The safety bar for the seat doesn't open, and it's positioned too close to the seat, so getting the child in and out is difficult. It is removable, but it's not a quick procedure. Also you're not supposed to use this bar to carry the seat with the child in it, which defeats part of the purpose of having it there in the first place. It's difficult to fold the stroller, you need to use both hands and one foot to close it, and if you start off with the seat rear-facing, you'll need to remove the seat first as well. This makes it less than ideal for getting into a taxi, for example, unless you have someone else there to hold the baby, and even so it takes too long. The canopy is not waterproof. In a mild to heavy rain, water will soak through the fabric and drip inside. There is a plastic raincover , but as it zips to the front of the canopy, rather than covering it, it does not protect from water adequately. Also there is a fabric portion of the raincover which has the same problem as the canopy. The mount for the optional sun parasol is not adjustable, so if you recline the seat the parasol cannot provide shade for the baby. Also, the flexible metal stem for the parasol itself is very stiff and doesn't adjust well, and it breaks easily, which will happen when you attempt to move the parasol into a useful position when the seat is reclined. The oval handle is quite adjustable and comfortable for a range of users, however it's very hard to hang a bag from there, and there aren't really any other places to hang one on this stroller. Forget the small bag they sell to hang on the beam, it's a terrible solution. The lower bag is great for carrying shopping and such, but you don't want to have to always be reaching down there for bottles, food, toys, etc. and when the seat is forward-facing with the footrest installed, it's hard to get to that bag. Lastly, the quality is not as good as one would expect given the price. The wheels are plastic and scratch and look bad quickly. The rear yoke for the back wheels isn't very strong so if you use the stair-climbing feature with much weight on the stroller it will deteriorate and break - we had to have ours repaired. Admittedly, this is due to the fact that we were abusing the stroller by climing stairs with it with the child in the seat (which they say not to do, presumably for safety reasons), but designers should be realistic and realize that if they allow you to fold the wheels under to climb or descend stairs more easily, then people are going to do that with the child in the stroller because in many cases there is no other alternative (what, take the baby out and leave it on the landing of the stairs while you go down to retrieve the stroller?). Also, there was a problem that developed where the seat would start slipping down. Our retailer contacted Stokke and they provided us with a little metal shim that solved the problem, but the annoying thing was that the instructions for this fix had a date printed on them that was before our purchase date - if they know this is a problem, why don't they provide the shim when you buy the stroller in the first place. I hope that they will eventually redesign this and solve most of these problems. With the exception of the limitation on how the seat can recline, I think all of these flaws are solveable. But until they come out with a second version, I wouldn't spend money on this one. We got lucky - when ours broke, Stokke replaced the entire chassis, wheels and all (good warranty service, like I said) so we essentially had a new stroller, and we sold it and got enough to cover the cost of the stroller we had already bought to replace it. (a Quinny Buzz, btw - also not perfect but more useable for our purposes).

2. Posted: Nov 7 2007

   I own this stroller in Red and I also have the 2006 bright green textiles. We have had our Stokke Xplory for over a year and it is wonderful. Great for using as a highchair in restaurants. The baby is up high when traveling through zoo's, amusment parks and aquariums. Keeps baby away from car exhaust fumes, unleashed dogs and other peoples touchy little children(which happens more times than you think). You have the option of facing your baby towards you or facing out. The stroller has an adjustable handle and the childs seat can easily go from sitting up to laying down without disturbing the child. Our daughter loves riding around in her Xplory. We recently bought the footmuff which is so cute and very warm. We plan on buying another one with our second child. If you splurge on one baby item make sure this is the one!!!

3. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 28 2007

   It looks really cool and is easy to push. It comes with some accesories like a mosquito net and raincover. However the cons outweight the pros, the biggest one being that it is poorly built of very cheap plastic. It is not a sturdy stroller, don't get fooled by the price, expensive doesn't mean high quality. The learning curve is steep, it takes ages to figure out what each of the white buttons are for and the instruction booklet is not helpful at all. You must buy Stokke only accesories, like the diaper bag which is another $100 because no other diaper bag can be used with the Xplory (no place to store or hang it). We also bought the $100 travel bag, and it turned out to be just a large plastic bag. No padding, no protection for the stroller, no special compartments to place the different items (chassis, seat, foot rest, etc..), and, not meant for air travel. Except the air travel part wasn't mentioned anywhere, and we found out the hard way when our stroller broke (the mechanism that opens the wheels) WHILE inside the travel bag (even though I took the time to put padding all around it), and the warranty didn't cover the repair, meaning we now have to spend $380 on a new chassis to be able to use it again. When you add that up to the over $1000 already spent, it is simply not worth it. Buy a different stroller! One that is sturdier, which is what you would expect after spending $1000, not one you are afraid of bringing up and down stairs, in and out of the car, etc...because it "might" break. On a final note, their customer service is terrible, not helpful at all.

See all reviews...

1. Posted: Aug 4 2008

   I received this as a baby shower gift. I found it very easy to use and operate even with my arthritis and my son. I have had it for about 8 months and absolutely love it. I would recommend it to my friends and family.

2. Posted: Sep 20 2007

   The car seat was not good, at least with my sedan. In its most reclined position it was still too up right, and the newborn's head kept falling sideways in a scaring fashion (third child, so I am not scared easily). The "cup" that supposedly had to support the baby's head, was not functional. I had to buy another car seat. The stroller was good, easy to fold and rather light. However, when my baby threw up in the stroller, I discovered that only the "cup" was removable. The rest was bolted to the frame. I attempted to wash it with a sponge, but it was so absorbent, that some of the mix of water and the digested milk absorbed. So it smells accordingly. Overall, it was a mistake. I assumed that it will be washable (one would think, it is an obvious requirement for baby gear) and did not check. Now I am looking into buying another stroller.

3. ( 0 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 4 2007

   In the picture this product looks blue and purple but when I received it it was actually blue and red. It does not look anything like the picture. I returned it so I don't know how well it works, but the appearance in the picture is misleading.

See all reviews...