Double Stroller Review

Choosing among double strollers

This has been a tumultuous year for double strollers. New Zealand's phil&teds, which gets consistently excellent reviews for its Sport Buggy Double, had its brand new Dash model recalled for faulty handles. Three months later, phil&teds bought out Mountain Buggy after that competing company declared bankruptcy. The company says it plans to continue the Mountain Buggy line, but production will move from New Zealand to a China, where phil&teds strollers are manufactured.

Meanwhile, Joovy and Baby Trend continue their complicated relationship. The companies manufacture nearly identical stand-on tandem strollers based on a design by British inventor Albert Fairclough. Baby Trend held the rights to the design until 2004, when Fairclough turned the license over to Joovy, but Baby Trend argued that the patent wasn't applicable and kept on manufacturing the stroller. Joovy is now suing Baby Trend for infringement. Joovy founder Rob Gardner has also won a recent judgment against Baby Trend for wrongful dismissal (he was employed by Baby Trend before founding Joovy). Baby Trend has responded with plans to file bankruptcy.

Reviewer coverage of double strollers has improved this year. ConsumerReports.org -- an excellent source for stroller reviews in general -- has expanded its formerly stingy coverage of double strollers for its latest roundup. Editors test 11 models altogether: three tandems and eight-side-by-sides. The new edition of "Baby Bargains" by Alan and Denise Fields still has more in-depth write-ups, though, and more models are covered here than at ConsumerReports.org. Editors consider parent and manufacturer interviews, along with hands-on tests, to assign product ratings.

We also read two sets of well-done reviews at Cookie magazine. While Cookie's first attempt at a stroller report had some flaws (namely a lack of balance), the magazine's latest double-stroller update is excellent, complete with pros and cons for each model, along with a detailed testing report for each model.

In addition to the information on double strollers we found from professional reviewers, we also found a large number of parent-written reviews. With sites like Buzzillions.com and Viewpoints.com offering easy navigating and sorting, owner-written reviews are becoming a more useful source of information. Reviews at Amazon.com, JoggingStroller.com and Epinions.com vary in quality, but taken together provide insight into double stroller ease of use and durability.

Stroller weight becomes an issue for double strollers. The average weight of a double stroller is around 30 pounds -- and that's without two kids. So it's not surprising that the most common complaint in reviews is weight and bulkiness. The Graco DuoGlider (*Est. $130) double stroller weighs 29.5 pounds, which is about average. Some more expensive luxury twin strollers like the Mountain Buggy Urban Double ( *Est. $750) weigh 35 pounds.