Baby Jogger City Mini Double Stroller Review

The scene: 2006.  Toys R Us.  Registering for baby gear for our first babe.  Stroller aisle.

Jeannett: “Ohhhh, I like this one!”

Andy: “This one’s cheaper.  Why do you need the one that’s twice as much?”

Jeannett: “Because it’s better.”

Andy: “It’s a stroller.  Does it have wheels?  Check.  Can you set your kid in it?  Check.  Done.  I don’t see a problem.  Scan the cheaper one.”

Fast forward 6 years, twins, and a total of 4 kids later…

We are stroller conosseiuers.  We’ve owned a single Chicco Cortina , a Maclaren Volo, a double Snap N Go, a Maclaren Twin Triumph, and now a Baby Jogger City Mini Double.

We know our strollers.

When I was still pregnant with Owen, I realized that the Maclaren we had wasn’t going to work for us anymore. We needed something that would work for a newborn and an older child with special needs.  We don’t know when Jill will be able to walk unassisted, but even when she does, it’s likely that her ability to walk long distances may be even futher off.  So we needed something that she could still use for potentially quite some time.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my Maclaren…under certain circumstances.  It folds up itty bitty and weighs about as little as a double stroller can possibly weigh.  But, it is nothing more than a high end umbrella stroller.  If all you were doing was walking along perfectly paved sidewalks, or in a mall, it was fantastic.  Great for urban uses.  But try pushing it along even a cracked sidewalk, it was a bumpy uncomfortable mess.  Not to mention that it wouldn’t accomodate an infant carrier.

The kind folks at Baby Jogger sent me a City Mini Double for review purposes.

The second I pulled it out of the box, I was a fan. They actually sent it to me while I was still pregnant with O, so I’ve had it and been using it for a while now.  Which I think it better for review purposes since I now see how it works under a variety of scenarios.

Keep in mind that this is not intended to be used as a jogging stroller.  The name of the company that manufactures it is called Baby Jogger.  But this model is not a jogging stroller.  It’s confusing, I know.

(Pretty sure no other stroller review has Darth Vadar’s stamp of approval.)

One of the things I learned right away when it came to strollers is that some of them don’t work well for tall folks.  At 5’2″, I had no idea.  But my 6’3″ husband found himself kicking the back of the stroller as he tried to walk when we were first looking at strollers all those years ago.  The City Mini does not pose this problem for him.  The push bar is at a great height and he doesn’t kick it.  In fact, he’s typically the one pushing it whenever we are together.

The stroller does not come standard with the infant car seat adaptor, which meant I had to purchase that separately.  It was expensive and while it certainly did it’s job of holding an infant carrier, the bar itself didn’t fold down which meant the stroller wasn’t as compact when folded as I would have liked.

Fortunately (unfortunately?) Owen was never much of a fan of his infant seat anyway…so I would always end up having to carry him around before he would be subjected to the injustices of sitting in his car seat.  While I wasn’t a fan of the car seat attachment, we didn’t end up using it for very long so it wasn’t a big deal in the end.

A testament to how easy it is to steer?  There I am pushing it one handed, with lopsided weight, while holding a baby.  Love the steering.  Love.

(My friend Tracy is pushing her twins in the Bumbleride Indie Twin.  Side by side comparison.  You’re welcome.)

The ultimate test for any stroller is a three day trip to Disneyland.

We were packed to the gills.  Did an obscene amout of walking.  And had our kids swapping seats all day long.

The seats recline independently, so Jill was able to sit up fully even if Owen was napping in a lying down position.

She still has plenty of leg room, and apparently the foot rest can also double as a cup holder.  Bonus.

I loooooove the sun shields on this stroller.

I also love the orange color.  It made it super easy to find at the stroller parking areas.

I noticed that the Disneyland rental strollers are made by Baby Jogger and were really similar in design to the City Mini single.  The fact that this is the stroller company that was heavy-duty enough for Disneyland to provide for their thousands of guests and heavy daily use speaks volumes.

Can you tell this was day 3 of Disney?  Jill looks like a little zombie.

The shades can pull way down and create a little cocoon for sleeping babies, but are also perfect for those times of the day when the sun is shining directly into your baby’s face.  They click into about 5 different places, so it’s super helpful for all kinds of different levels of shade depending on the time of day.

The brake is a simple one step…just push on that big red lever with your foot and the stroller stays.  This makes me happy.  Easy peasy.

One of the big cons to this stroller is the storage underneath.

It is a decent size, but it’s really hard to get to.  Don’t put anything under there that you need to access very often.  Luckily, there are large mesh pockets on the back of each of the seats that we used for things we needed on a regular basis (like water bottles and nursing covers)…and left the storage underneath to a backpack with lunches and our jackets.

This thing was a pack mule.

Jill’s walker and our diaper bag were also hauled around all day with no problem.

It maneuvered easily through the park and steers like a dream.  You can push with one hand and navigate crowds with ease.  We were dreading taking a double stroller to Disneyland, and it truly wasn’t an issue with the City Mini.  I saw other parents with doubles that looked like they were trying to navigate the Titanic and you could see them visibly struggling with their strollers.  We had no problems.  In fact, it didn’t feel like a double stroller at all and we never once felt like it was cumbersome or got in the way of our time at the park.

You can turn this stroller in tight little circles with no trouble.  It handles really well.

And it worked great for the big kids who happily snagged a ride whenever Jill was using her walker.

Their legs could drape over the edge of the foot rest or they could still just have their knees bent if they wanted.  But it was definitely wide/tall enough for older children.

I love that you can adjust the height of the seatbelts easily by using those clasps and just clipping them onto one of the many loops on the back of the seat.  No fiddling with buckles and slides.  Just clip/unclip.  Done.

But hands down, my favorite feature is the way it folds.

Ohmyword it is the best/coolest/easiest/funnest folding ever.

See those little straps on the seats that say “Pull to Fold”?

You just grab those straps, give them a little tug…

…and boom.  The whole thing collapses in half.

Like a sheet of paper.

There it is in the back of my SUV.  I drive a Yukon XL (the GMC version of a Suburban)…it takes up about half the width of my trunk space when I have it lying flat, but for trips we can stand it on it’s side and it takes up a lot less room.  Plus, I usually just pile my groceries right on top of the stroller so there’s still plenty of room.

(I’ve actually considered making a little “platform” out of wood that would go right over the stroller so that you can pile things without it being right on top of the stroller itself.)

The larger wheels on this stroller make it great for a variety of surfaces.  We have lots of walking paths in our town, and they can often change from paved sidewalk to decomposed granite.  My Maclaren would be a vibrating, rattling mess on that rough surface and I would avoid them like the Plague.  The City Mini glides over it with no problem.  I cannot tell you how big of a deal this is.  Every time I push this stroller on even the slightest bumpy surface, I want to mail a thank you card to the people at Baby Jogger.  It rocks.

Another test was our local park.  It’s a great park with a big duck pond…but there is no paved path that directly connects to the playground area.  The quickest way to get to the slides is to cross the grass.  On my Maclaren, this was a disaster that would end in me sweating and cursing under my breath.  The front wheels would often get stuck in the grass and there may or may not have been one incident where I didn’t have Jill strapped in, and she spilled right out of the stroller because the whole thing tipped forward when the front wheels got stuck.

The City Mini rolls right over that same grass area so easily, the kids can push it for me.

Overall, I adore this stroller and I’m actually kind of annoyed that we haven’t owned it from the beginning.  I would highly recommend it.  Seriously.

There are some cons/suggestions though:

1) The storage underneath is hard to access.  Somehow the stroller should be redesigned to make that easier to get to.  Otherwise, it’s mostly unusable unless it is holding things you don’t need very often.

2) The car seat adapter is bulky.  If there was some way that the bar could fold down flat, it would be awesome.

3) The stroller doesn’t automatically clip closed when you fold it.  There is a button snap you can click to keep it closed, but it’s not a quick option for frazzled moms.

4) It doesn’t stay standing up when it’s folded up.

In spite of these imperfections, the positives (steering, heavy-duty construction, ease of folding, sun shades) of the stroller heavily outweigh the cons.  Even with the things that I didn’t like, I would still happily buy this stroller and recommend it to others.

Scene: 2012. Four kids.  City Mini comes in the mail.

Andy: “Man, this stroller is amazing.  I love this stroller.  Everyone should have this stroller.  Why didn’t we buy this one the first time?”

UPDATE: Since writing this review, I have purchased a couple of accessories that I love.  It’s kind of annoying that you have to buy just about anything extra, and nothing comes standard with the (already fairly expensive) stroller, but I guess I don’t make the rules.  

The double belly bar is worth every penny.  You know when your kids are at the age where they don’t want to be pushed back into the stroller, but you still want them somewhat secured in the stroller?  The belly bar solves that problem and lets them sit forward and still be safe.  It’s soft and padded, clicks right into the stroller with no tools needed, and it adjusts into multiple heights so you can set it to the best level for your child.  Also, the cover zips right off if you need to wash it.  I clip baby links/toys to it and it works like a charm.

The parent console is a nice extra.  Now, I will admit that it seems expensive for what it is.  That being said, it’s nice to have a spot to hold your water bottle and I often leave my purse home and just pop my wallet and cell phone into the little cubbies.  Everything is right there, easy to access, and keeps you from hauling more stuff or trying to not spill your coffee while pushing your kids around the mall.  Not the cheapest accessory, but I do like having it once I got over the sticker shock.

What stroller do you have?  Do you love it or hate it?

Disclosure: I was provided a City Mini Double for review purposes but all opinions are my own.  Also, I Darth Vadar does not officially approve of this stroller.  I mean, maybe he does, but I’d have to check with George Lucas to be sure.  And he didn’t return my calls.  I’ll update this post with his answer once his people get in touch with my people.

• Bio
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Latest Posts

jeannett

I'm a mom to four. A wife to one. I believe in story. I love telling you about mine and would love to hear yours. There's really no sense in wasting our suffering and not sharing in each other's joy. We're all in this together...even if it doesn't always feel like it.

@jeannettg

Follow @jeannettg

jeannett

Latest posts by jeannett (see all)

• Dirt in a Jar, Laundry Scientists, and Clean Water - October 20, 2015
• Because Cake. - October 11, 2015
• How to design a luxury bathroom for less - August 12, 2015