Initial Review of the Mountain Buggy Duet by Cat

Ok, this will only be a quick review of the Mountain Buggy Duet as I haven’t played around with it a lot yet.

It comes packed really simply in a big sturdy box.  You pull everything out, open the buggy up, snap on the 4 wheels, attach the hoods and away you go.  So simple.  But I wish the instructions had more words along with the photos.

It is a visual tease.  It looks like a wide double buggy.  It feels like a wide double buggy because of a nice long handlebar.  We looked at it and thought, “it can’t be right, it won’t fit through our door”??? We said “no way that’s the same width as the baby jogger city select”???

BUT it does and it is.  It’s a brain freeze type of buggy.  You honestly will not appreciate or understand how it works until you see it in the flesh.  I was pushing it around the village thinking, hang on, it won’t fit, BUT IT DOES.  It’s a very very clever little double. But don’t be worried about it being too narrow.  The seats are generous and my twin 12 month olds looked quite comfy in it.

It pushes lovely, turns round in tiny little circles and goes up curbs easy.  It’s sturdy and doesn’t feel heavy to push at all.  The seats are quite roomy and the hoods are amazing.  They’re a bit stiff right now being new, but they come down nicely and the extra little sun visor works nicely. Three little niggles about the hoods – they’ve got velcro on the windows – why why why not use magnets? There are gaps in the sides and in the middle where they meet up.  Not sure about this yet, but will see when the weather gets colder whether drafts get in.  Now my big niggle is that where the one handed fold mechanism should be near the handle bar is empty.  But the hood has a nice square hole to accommodate it.  It looks ridiculous and I can’t understand how MB allowed it to be shipped out like this.  I really do believe that MB should replace the hood for a new one without the hole.

The verdict is out on how it folds.  It is stiff right now, so only time will tell if it gets easier for me.  I’m short and find it hard to push up both clips to get it to fold.  I personally would have liked the one fold mechanism at the top.

The handle bar adjusts easily – very nice, but not sure about the rubber they used.  Mine has a fault – a tear – so please check yours carefully incase it’s a fault with the material.

The wheels might need inflating a bit and tighten the black valve caps unless you want to loose them!!!!

It goes uphill easily, fields easily, up kerbs easily and went round the aisles in the local shop easy peasy.

The recline is totally flat and is quite easy to use, it doesn’t go down with a clunk or too fast either.

I haven’t got carrycots or carseats, so can’t comment on those.

My raincover arrives next week, so will try that out then.

It’s not light to carry, but it’s not too heavy either.  When folded, I couldn’t lift the baby jogger city mini twin because of the weight and the shape of it folded.  I can carry the Duet from the house and up into the boot ok.  I can’t skip and jump, but it’s managable.  It just fits in our boot with the wheels on.  Some cars I think you’ll have to have a play with removing wheels etc.

It folds down pretty fast and I’ve noticed that the front wheel axles can get quite a hammering on tarmac, so I’ve bought a cheap rubber boot liner to put on the floor when opening and closing the buggy.  I do not want to damage an expensive buggy, so this is an option for you.  I may be doing it wrong, but we’ve both had a go and both did the same.

It’s a great double buggy.  Light, sturdy and narrow.  Don’t be fooled that it’s too narrow, it’s not. It really is a nice double.  I’m not sure whether I would have bought it if it had been around when the twins were tiny.  I quite like the idea of seeing the babies in carrycots but I really enjoyed my Baby Jogger City Select and it’s versatility.

After just using it 3 times now, I do like it a lot.