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34 of 34 found the following review helpful:
 A nice compromise Nov 09, 2010
By Bonnie J. Becker
"pisaster"
I spent way too much time doing research on double strollers, and decided on the City Select. In return for the thoughtful reviews I depended on, I decided to post my own review that addressed some of the criticisms I had read, as well as add a few ideas of my own.
For context, I have a newborn and a 27 month old. I was looking for a double that could also be used as a single (so no side-by-sides, like BOB Duallie or City Mini Double, which both looked great), since in a couple of years the older one will have outgrown the stroller. Our old stroller was given to us and we HATED it (too heavy, poor steering, blocked basket), so I decided that it was crucial to get a good stroller that would last us a while. We weren't ready for a sit n' stand (would have gotten the Joovy Caboose Ultralight) since my son is too young and needs a proper seat. We didn't want a second seat that hung below the main seat, since I didn't think my toddler would tolerate it and with a bad back I couldn't get a kid in and out of it (would have gone with Phil and Ted's or Britax B-Ready)--although I should note that all of my friends who have this kind of stroller insist that it works great. We ultimately got the BJCS for the flexibility of design and the stadium-style seating.
We've had it for a month now and are happy with our choice. Here's my take on some of the main critiques of the stroller.
Chicco Keyfit 30: I was very worried that the carseat sits on the adapter and doesn't "snap" in. Turns out, if you look at your carseat, there aren't really any places for this particular carseat to snap! So any stroller that is not a Chicco will have this issue. I was surprised that the one little snap in the back DOES actually click in, and with the strap, the carseat is pretty snug. It's as good as it can be with this model of carseat and I feel comfortable that it is safe. My one complaint is that the carseat is tilted a bit forward. Not a dealbreaker, but something they could fix on the next model.
Too heavy: I was also worried about the weight of the stroller and how it would handle hills and curbs. I am not very strong and am home alone recovering from birth (as you all are too). With both the carseat and the extra seat in and full, it still handles really well. Steep hills take some oomph, but that's physics--to get weight up a hill takes some energy. But I can totally do it by myself with no problem. Curbs aren't a big deal at all, just a foot on the bar and pop! Maybe when my kids get bigger I will have an issue with this, but I really don't find I have the problems that others have described. It steers great as well. With both kids in, one-handed steering is tiring after a while, but is still doable. And usually I need to steer one handed because I'm holding a kid, which means that the stroller won't be totally loaded when I need to do it! (Note that I am configuring it the "wrong" way with the big kid in front and the carseat by me--and it still works fine for me). And keep in mind that's in a totally different category from the big Graco, which is a tank in comparison.
Too big: We have a Honda Civic, which limited ou choices a lot. We usually fold it up with the carseat adapter on but the second seat off and it is really compact. You can actually fold it with the seat on, but it isn't as compact. It's so easy to pop off the seat and throw it in the car. I love that you can easily take everything off of the frame to fold it completely down. When we go on a roadtrip, we can really break it down to pack it up.
Seats too small: My son is pretty tall and lanky, and he fits in the seat fine. The canopy at the upper setting has lots of room. The footrest is definitely too short, and he has to bend his knees to fit. He hasn't complained, but this could be improved in future models.
Additional Pros:
-The basket is HUGE and accessible from every direction. LOVE it!
-It's really sturdy.
-The break is easy and convenient.
-The handle is nice and tall.
-When in the top spot, the carseat is right in front of me. Easy to adjust baby's hat!
Cons:
-So spendy! Luckily we had help from our family to cover it.
-The shocks. I haven't seen much discussion of this, but the bumps are sort of rough. Not a dealbreaker for us.
-With my son in the front, his feet can touch the ground. Not an issue normally since he puts his feet in the footrest. But when throwing a tantrum, he stiffened up and was able to drag his feet! Could solve this in the future by putting him in the top spot, but not until my daughter is old enough to be in a seat (I'm not comfortable putting her below yet).
-Straps are hard to adjust. I love the clips that allow you to move the straps up and down But to shorten them is a big pain.
Hope this helps. Depending on your needs and budget, this might be perfect for you!
55 of 63 found the following review helpful:
 Not very city friendly - needs tweaking Apr 05, 2010
By Jill D
With an 18 month old and a 2 month old, we reluctantly retired our Bugaboo and began the search for a double stroller. After much research we, like so many others, eagerly anticipated the release of the Baby Jogger City Select. We bought it 3 weeks ago and have since sold it as it just didn't fit our needs. The stroller is so superior on so many levels that I tried to overlook the flaws as much as I could, but to no avail.
Living in Manhattan, the two deal breakers for me were:
1) as others have mentioned, the stroller is very heavy, esp with 2 kids loaded on. This made for difficult maneuvering. To be specific, if I was pushing it on a nearly perfect flat surface, it worked like a dream. However, anything with even the slightest angle to it caused the stroller to veer sharply to one side which made my arm/wrist very tired trying to keep it straight. And with most city sidewalks being anything but flat, it was very hard to overlook as I was constantly trying to correct it. I don't feel like I am a physically weak person, so I was very surprised when neither me nor my husband could easily control the stroller.
2) Again, due to the weight, or maybe the weight distribution, the stroller is heavy. So, it was very hard, if not impossible to lift it up over a curb. Needless to say, going up a couple of steps here and there was a challenge I wasn't able to take on, and thus became very limited to where I could go, what stores I would enter, etc. I had my husband also try this maneuver as well, and he had great difficutly too. He had to stand on the lower bar under the seat to lift it off the ground and it was still very hard. To elaborate, I had my 18 month old in the front seat, and my 2 month old in his car seat closer to me, so I didn't have it set up as the recommended weight distribution, but to be honest, that shouldn't matter. The company boasts of its 16 configurations, so I believe for the money I paid, that I should be able to actually use all 16 configurations with ease; there shouldn't be an asterisk. That it can serve as a double as well as accept a car seat was the appeal for us. But, if doing that costs me the ability to walk around my neighborhood comfortably even if it was $1 it wouldn't be worth it.
3) A few other less important complaints we had were that the seat height was rather short for my son who is only 18 months. We did move the canopy up to its highest setting and moved the footrest down to its lowest, but it still wasn't enough. The footrest is actually more annoying than helpful because it is so short that my son had to bend his knees to set them in there. I can't imagine this working once he is 2 or 3 years old. It does fold up well, however as another reader commented, it can't stand on its own so that made the fold rather pointless. In an NYC apartment, space is everything.
Anyway, I am sorely disappointed as we had high hopes for this stroller. I can definitely see the draw and while some may be able to overlook its flaws, I was not. If they fix these things in v.2.0, then I very well may just entertain purchasing this stroller again. But, until then, we will use our new Phil and Ted's Dash stroller, which pushes like a dream.
23 of 24 found the following review helpful:
This stroller is a HOME RUN! Jan 30, 2010
By Wendy
My husband and I had been researching strollers for months, and all of the strollers that we found had something that was missing and that we would have to compromise on. And for the price of some of these strollers, there was just no way I was willing to compromise. Most importantly, we wanted a stroller that we could use as a single now, but that would convert into a double once we have our second baby. And not just any double...it would need to hold a toddler (comfortably) AND an infant carseat. The only one we could find that wasn't bulky, was the Uppa Baby Vista, but that second add on seat didn't look so comfortable. So when I heard about this stroller coming out I was PSYCHED!! I had read about it and watched a video online. This stroller seemed too good to be true! It had everything I needed, wanted and more. So as soon as it became available I ordered it. Needless to say, I had very high expectations of this stroller. And I was not disappointed. This stroller moves like a dream. It looks fantastic. It's incredibly easy to maneuver and re-configure. It has a super convenient hand-brake. And it has 16 different configuration options! I am beyond impressed. One of the things I love is that it LOOKS like a single stroller! I can use it like this for as long as I need, and then just add on another seat instead of having to buy a whole new double stroller. I would ABSOLUTELY recommend this stroller to any mom who has two children, or has one now and is looking to grow their family. It's the best investment you will make. Oh, and if you like the Diamond color - don't be intimidated by the fear of getting it dirty! I bought that color and it's actually more like a light gray. Plus, it cleans super easily.
17 of 18 found the following review helpful:
a STELLAR SINGLE and/or DOUBLE STROLLER for city or suburb Jul 27, 2010
By DESIREE POWELL
Like many other reviewers, I searched, researched, test drove, read countless reviews and agonized for months over which double stroller to buy. I went to buy a Valco Tri Mode Twin Stroller, but it didn't fit in the trunk of our Jetta. Then I went to see a Tike Trek but that too was too big. Then I went to Baby Ant in Tarzana to check out their very large selection of strollers. I was about to go for the City Mini when the City Select caught my husband's eye. For once I'm glad he questioned my judgement! The City Select is a STELLAR STROLLER.
What I LOVE:
* I'm 5'8", my husband 6'1", and the adjustable handlebar is fantastic
* The foot rest is adjustable
* The seat itself is adjustable (4 ways)
* With the MAXI COSI MICO the car seat adaptor is super easy to use, it's just two brackets and that's it (this is the car seat that Baby Jogger recommended to use and it's also the one that they show in the advertisements)
* The Sun Shade is fantastic
* It fits through the checkout aisle at the grocery store, something a side-by-side stroller couldn't do
* It fits easily in the trunk of our Jetta
* The storage space is ridiculously plentiful...I went to the grocery store today with my 4 month old and almost 4 year old. I don't use bags because I put everything in the storage space. Here's what I put in there today:
white grape juice
dish soap
taco season mix
six bagel thins
2 boxes of penne pasta
can of tomato sauce (32 oz)
bottle of mayo (16 oz)
2 boxes of cheez it's (9 oz)
box of tissue
one dozen eggs
butter
2 pounds of ground turkey
6 chicken breasts
1.5 pounds of broccoli
cucumber
3 fiji apples
package of strawberries
banana squash
tofu
mushrooms
bag of carrots
french bread
sourdough baguette
ovaltine (48 oz)
strawberry jam
1 liter of Ginger Ale
my Petunia Pickle Bottom Clutch/Diaper Bag
my Bebe-au-Lait "hooter hider"
a change of clothes for the baby & my 4 y.o.
1 small bottle of water
* ALL of the above fit in the storage compartment, and i didn't even have to expand it w/the zippers for that purpose
* I absolutely LOVE that there is the option of a Glider/Stand On/Hitchhiker option for our 4 y.o. for when he wants to "steer"
* Our 4 y.o. CAN steer this stroller easily
* I love that there are belly bar attachments (invididualized) as well as the snack tray/cup holder attachment and parent console.
* the front wheels can be locked into a fixed position
* and lastly, I love that this can be a single stroller whenever I want it to.
What I don't love
* I wish that the storage compartment had a zipper to "enclose" or keep everything in there in there when I go to fold the stroller to place it in my trunk. If I had an SUV I'm sure I'd just have the stroller frame "standing" but I have to lay it flat in order to get it in the trunk, so sometimes, things fall out of the storage compartment, but really, this is not a big deal!
* sometimes when we're walking on the sidewalk and get to a driveway, the stroller wants to veer down towards the street and I have to reel it in, so to speak, to prevent it from going towards the street; however, i know this is because i have my 4 y.o. facing the front/outward and our 4 month old facing me, so it's kind of bottom heavy...
Clearly there are more pros than cons, and the cons aren't even that big of a deal.
I am SO happy with this stroller.
Baby Jogger has thought of just about everything with the City Select.
If you have one child and think you may have another some day, get this stroller.
If you have one child and one on the way, get this stroller.
If you have twins, get this stroller.
If you have one child and you have his/her friend over for a playdate, get this stroller.
If you have one child that is too old to sit in the stroller, get this stroller. With the glider attachment, the older child can "steer" and the younger one/infant can go for a ride as well.
Seriously.
GET THIS STROLLER!!!!!
YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Perfect for the mom with 2 children Jul 19, 2010
By Monica Beland
Pro's:
Versatile in so many positions.
If 1 child feels like walking or being toted in a baby carrier, you can just convert this into a single stroller and not have to push around a double stroller.
It is not obnoxiously big like other double strollers.
The snap ins are very easy compared to other strollers.
Sturdy frame
Folds compactly and seats are collapsable so they end up flat (I can fit everything into my Honda Civic with room to spare!)
Very sturdy fabric
Roomy enough seats for all ages (my 5 year old could still fit in it yet it is not super wide like the BOB where they float around)
Amazingly huge purse holder (Shop away girlfriend!)
1 hand adjustable seat recliner.
I lightly jog with the stroller on jogging paths just fine.
Con's:
Not a lot of fun fabric choices.
Stroller does not stand up. I just keep it in my trunk though-for the house, it might be annoying.
Side brake can be hard to stop going down steep hills. If you do a lot of walking, I recommend getting a strap for when you go down big hills.
It does not come with a child tray or parent cup holder (additional add on's...YIKES!)
I put my 5 year old in the front seat and I could not push it up a curb without putting my whole weight on the footrest. The smaller child needs to go in the furthest seat. The larger one goes in the one closest to you. It will be hard for curbs.
Bottom Line: I would not recommend this for twins. I would go for a true double stroller. I think this is perfect for the mom who has children 1-2 years apart that way they can convert it according to their needs without buying tons of other strollers. My husband and I love this stroller. Heck my 5 year old can push the stroller just fine!
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