( 1 reviews )
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Posted: Feb 7 2009
My husband and I are both taller than average, and we have had a difficult time finding a light-weight stroller that has tall enough handles so we're not slumping over when we push it. We ordered one for 29.99 from a website called "tallparents.com", but it's pretty much an umbrella stroller for travel (fairly crappy), and the handles are hard plastic and unpleasant to hold. We looked at the expensive Bugaboos, and for $549 (Babies R Us price in NY as of 2/7/09), their handlebars are STILL too short (even when fully extended) for my husband, who is 6'5". We didn't want to spend that much, certainly, and all of the bigger strollers are at least 17 lbs. Peg Perego's models came close to being tall enough, but they have the big wheels and are heavier. The lower-end Quinny is way too short. So that leaves the Maclarens, all of which have standard handle heights comparable to other makes -- except their Techno XLR, which has extendable handles and is about $349 and 16 lbs, and this Kate Spade Ryder Biarritz. It is not as tall as the XLR, but it is lighter, less bulky, and less expensive. Using a BabiesRUs 20% discount card today, we were able to buy the Kate Spade Biarritz Maclaren for about $260 (BRU's pre-sale price: $299, which makes it a good bit less expensive if you have the coupon than Amazon is selling it for). The K.S. Biarritz seems otherwise like other Maclarens; it folds pretty easily, reclines for the baby to sleep, and comes with an extra pad for the seat to soften it and a head stabilizer for smaller babies. They also include a rain cover. The colors -- black, red and white stripes, didn't initially appeal to me, but coupled with my daughter's leopard-print stroller blanket, the Biarritz actually looks kind of rock-n-roll and is growing on me.
