Review of InStep Safari Swivel Wheel Double Jogger

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List Price: $179.99
Sale Price: $174.99
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I looked for a long time researching testing strollers until I picked this one. I will be honest there are better ones out there, but this one was the best deal for the price range I was looking. I've never found any stroller that I'm 100% satisfied with, there are pro's and con's about each of them, but here is my opinion of this one.

Pros

Separate seats great for the little boys who want to pinch and bother each other, this one keeps them separate with only the ability to kick each others feet.

Separate shades The shades let you put them at the position needed for each child, good if your children are not twins and one is older than the other. Also the shade aren't attached to the parent console, this allows them to move all the way to the child tray if the sun is in front of you.

Cup holders You can never have too many! Having ones for the parent and the child is a plus.

Swivel wheel Having the swivel wheel is nice for walks in the park, but the ability to lock it is great for a nice jog. If you haven't tried jogging with a jogging stroller know that locking is a great help. The swivel wheel will turn all directions making you hold the handles the whole jog. When it is locked in place you can push the stroller slightly in front of you and it will stay on track, this one also comes with a leash so that you may strap it to your wrist for emergency stops.

Reclining seats The seats recline quite far which is nice for young ones to nap in.

Folding It is very easy to fold and has convenient handles to lift it by when it is folded. It doesn't fold very compact, but most of them don't without removing the wheels.

Color For me the color of the stroller was a great pro! I love the green and grey, it also comes in yellow and grey, and pink and grey, and those ones come with mp3 speakers for a price, but I still love this better.

Easy to push if you've had other double strollers you know how hard it can be to push them, especially once the kids get bigger. This one you could push with one finger despite the size of your kids. It rolls very well!

Cons (I say cons, but I do love the stroller, most are just things I wish were designed a little better)

Width as with any double side by side width can be an issue. What is frustrating about this one is that if it was just an inch less we could fit through most doors. As it is we can't make it through our front door, or the library door etc with the stroller open, only wide walk ways and double doors.

Underside basket the bar at the bottom makes it difficult to get things in and out of the bottom. The baskets are fairly good sized, but getting in and out o them can be hard.

Trays While the cup holders are nice the trays reach out a bit too far. Even in the sitting position it is a bit of a reach for the 3 year old to reach the cup if he is strapped in. Also having them far away like that makes them perfect objects to kick and try and play with during the ride. More than once I have opened them and let them hang at the sides.

Balance Some double joggers are made so that with one child in you can still use them. This one is fine to push with one child in at a walking pace, but when running it causes it to tilt sometimes and pull to one side. If only one child is going I bring a bag full of stuff to set in the other seat.

Parent console The parent console on this is not bad, but could be better, it is a bit flimsy, the latch is hard to open and close and I always feel like I'm going to break it. The cup holders are nice though, firm enough to keep things from spilling.

Ease of assembly While most pieces were very easy, they just clicked into place, the footrest gave me some trouble. It has to be attached with 4 screws and they were not very well aligned. I was excited and wanted to put it together right away without waiting for help, but I got very frustrated and it took a good 20-30 min.

I tried to write as much as I could think of, when I was looking for a double jogger I read tons of reviews on tons of strollers and tried many of them out in stores. I hope I answered all the questions you're looking for when researching strollers!

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I love everything about this stroller: the price, the canopies, the fact that you can set the front wheel from stationary to swivel, it's not too wide for the mall or too small for my 3 year old, there is a drink holder and tray for each one of my kids, as well as two for my husband and I, the fabric is nice, and best of all it has great maneuverability!

HOWEVER, I only gave this stroller 3 stars instead of 5 because of the craftsmanship of the backrests. They are made of particleboard and break VERY easily. If you order this product be very careful when folding it up (make sure backrests are on top of handle)or when tightening the harnesses for your kids because too much force will break the backrest in half. The first time a backrest broke I notified InStep and they sent me a new a one at no charged and I replaced it. The replacement backrest also broke recently and instead of getting another replacement I am just going to replace the backrest boards with thick plastic or plywood something that won't break so easily.

I hope that InStep finds another more durable material to make the backrests with. If they do, it's definitely a 5 star stroller!

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As others have said, I spent hours researching double strollers. It came down to this stroller and the Turismo. The only difference is the Turismo's aluminum frame. I went with this stroller and could not be more pleased!

1. This stroller isn't very heavy I can get it in and out of our car fairly well (it fits in our Sonata's trunk, but it takes the entire trunk, which is good sized). And, for at least $100 less, it's worth a little more weight!

2. The independent sun-shades are a must. They are sturdy and effective and easy to position.

3. It pushes SO easily, even with my 35 lb. two-year-old in one side and baby in the other. It has minimal pull, even on hills.

4.It's easy to fold (though the locking clip isn't very secure on mine and sometimes pops off when I'm trying to get it in the car).

After all my research, it seemed many jogging strollers were too short for big kids. For parents with tall children my two-year-old daughter is over three feet tall, and she fits fine with room to spare. This one is great for her, and she's in the top percentiles all around!

Honest reviews on InStep Safari Swivel Wheel Double Jogger

I purchased this stroller about 7 months ago. At the time my kids were 4 yrs. and 2 months old. I was looking for a stroller that I could "speed walk" several miles a day around the neighborhood with. Although I wanted many of the features of a more expensive jogger, I didn't want to spend alot since my older child is 4 years old I saw us only needing a double for 1-2yrs. Let me start by saying, I would buy this again, even if money were no issue. I did not see this stroller in person before ordering it, so I was hesitant, but the quality is excellent, I would compare the upholestry to my $350 Peg Perego single stroller. It pushes beautifully (I prefer it over my Peg Perego). The swivel wheel turns on a dime, but can be locked if walking fast/running to prevent any rumbling of the front wheel. It is truly a smooth ride and takes very little effort to push, even with my 40 lb. 4 yr. old in one side. It fits through most public doorways without a problem. I also really like the side by side setup there is a divider down the middle, so the kids do keep their hands to themselves for the most part, but can still see each other. The baby LOVES sitting next to my older son, and is entertained by him. I mainly use this for outdoor walks, and use my single stroller at the mall since my older son can walk, but I would not hesitate to use this as my primary stroller at the mall as well, if needed. It is no wider than any other standard double out there. My favorite features this stroller has, are the individual dual sun shades that are fully retractable to block the sun from any angle, seats that recline individually, and individual dual snack trays for the kids as well as a very nice parent tray which includes two cupholders. The fact that everything is "individual" is nice for children of different ages. A+ for features. I was also considering a Baby Trend double jogger at Babies R Us for $100 more, but this stroller blows that away in quality...very glad I went with this one. The only thing I will say, is my son who was about 42 in. tall when I got the stroller, is probably a little too tall for it. He always sits forward to check out the scenery anyway and has never complained, but he is a little cramped for headroom if he were to try to lean back and take a nap (which he never does anyway). If you are going to use this for your "take everywhere" stroller, I might only recommend for under 4 yrs, so everyone is comfortable. Only other complaint is the front wheel does rumble at times if walking very fast/jogging, or if I have only the baby in the stroller, and the other side empty this is simply rectified by locking the swivel wheel in place. The stroller pushes very nicely with two very differently sized children in each side (40 lbs and 12 lbs). Is a bit heavy and takes up a good amount of room in my SUV, but what double stroller doesn't? I have used it almost daily for 7 months and would buy again...well worth $150!!

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Hi all. I do not believe in the perfect stroller. I wish it existed but I do not believe it does. So instead I look for *good* strollers. This jogger is a *good* stroller. Not perfect, but good. And considering the price, I think it is a *great* value.

I have owned this stroller for 4 months now and have used it 10-15 miles per week. I have a 3-year-old and a 10-month-old and they both fit comfortably in it. The seats are always slightly reclined my toddler can't sit fully upright in it but I believe that is for safety. When you are running as fast as I am (ha!) then it is better for the children to be slightly reclined so that their heads don't bob around.

Features I love:

* The 180-degree swiveling canopy is awesome. That really is what makes this stroller good. I like being able to easily adjust the canopy with one hand while jogging to shade my baby's eyes.

* This stroller moves very smoothly. It is easy to push and to steer.

* It comes with a tether strap that you can put around your wrist.

* The front wheel can be either fixed or swivel. I use it in swivel all the time, but some joggers like a fixed wheel.

* It can accommodate large children. My toddler has always been in the 90+ percentile for height and at 35 pounds he still fits comfortably in the seat.

* It actually makes you run faster at least when running downhill! You try running slowly when trailing 80+ pounds of stroller and child! The stroller itself weighs ~30 pounds. Yes, I held it while standing on the bathroom scale. It is big but not overly bulky. I have been able to lift it into the back of our minivan without too much trouble. I can *almost* flip it open with one hand. Not quite, but maybe with some more practice I might be able to do it.

* It comes with two cupholders for mom/dad.

Features that if improved would turn it from a *good* stroller to a *GREAT* stroller:

* The back wheel gears are very close to the brakes. If you roll over a very bumpy surface while jogging like going off a low curb the wheels will pop up and "catch" the brakes and make the stroller jiggle and vibrate. I have to slow down for a second to make the ride smoother so the wheels won't pop up into the brakes.

* There is a bar across the basket underneath. I usually only put small items when jogging, but if I wanted to put large items like a large diaper bag it would be challenging because of that bar. Not sure why it is there. It doesn't *need* to be there. They could easily re-design it so it isn't blocking the basket. Some engineer just wasn't thinking about that when s/he designed it.

* The storage case in the handle bar is too small for a cell phone! I can store my keys in there and the garage door opener, but not a cell phone or an iPod. I usually put those in the cupholders. Once again, not sure what the engineer was thinking who designed that.

Like I said, I don't believe in the perfect stroller, but this is a darn good value. I'm not interested in spending 3x the price of this stroller for a fancy double jogger that may or may not actually be much better than this. I read a lot of reviews of different double joggers before buying this one, and even the "high end" strollers had some negative reviews. I wasn't willing to spend tons more money on a stroller that still wouldn't be perfect.

I'm very satisfied with this and have had *no* problems with it that other reviewers have mentioned like the front wheel being loose, or the particle board in the seats breaking. It is a good value for the price and for that reason along with the amazing swiveling canopy I would recommend it.

By the way, other reviewers have said that a standard bike pump is not sufficient to pump up the tires on the stroller. I have found that my standard Schwinn bike pump works just fine. I did buy the Zefal Mini Multi Sort Bicycle Frame Pump from this site because it has a pump nozzle on the end of a flexible hose and can reach into tight spaces. Another reviewer recommended it as being necessary to pump up this stroller. It is a great little pump but I have not found it to be necessary for this stroller.

Update 4/15/2013

We have now had this stroller for two years and use it multiple times a week. Everything is still in tact nothing has broken. It was involved in a crash daddy tried to jump a curb running at full speed. The stroller flipped over but both kids stayed strapped in and they did not get injured.

My oldest is now almost 5 weighs 40 pounds and is in the 98th percent for height and still fits in the stroller.

Overall I highly recommend this jogging stroller.