Out ‘n’ About Nipper V1 Twin v’s Baby Jogger City Elite Double

 

This set of photographs shows the Out ‘n’ About Nipper 360 side by side with the Baby Jogger City Elite.

Styling: The Out ‘n’ About Nipper 360 looks neat, small and sporty whereas the Elite does look chunky and large.

Size: The Baby Jogger Elite is much taller than the Nipper. But looks are deceptive because the Nipper is actually wider and almost the same length as the Elite.  The Elite goes through standard doorways fine. In theory the Nipper is wider than a standard doorway (30 inches, 76.2cms), however I have heard that because of the triangular footprint of its three wheels, it is possible to wiggle the Nipper through doors, or to pop a side wheel off easily, push the pushchair through and put the wheel back on! (I suspect not recommended by Out ‘n’ About!).

Fabrics: The Elite is made of a wipe down nylon type fabric and is easily removed to wash. The Nipper is more of a canvas material, but it has comfy but removable liners in both seats which I suspect are washable or at least wipe clean.

Child Comfort: Both pushchairs offer excellent child comfort. As stated above, the Nipper has removeable padded inserts which are thick and comfy. These can be removed to give more room for a larger child. The Elite has extra thick padding on the back of the seats compared to the Baby Jogger City Mini. The Nipper seats are bucket like – the back and seat are at about a 90 degree angle, but they are tilted backwards which makes the child reclined. My children were not too bothered about this although I have heard stories of children disliking this position. The harness & buckles are far superior on the Elite.

There is no adjustable footrest on the Nipper 360 and to be honest there is not really enough footroom for each toddler to have both feet on the footplate because of the triangular shape. My eldest dangled one leg off the side. The Elite has a fixed chunky footplate and the calf rests (kicker boards) also lift up to horizontal for a younger child or sleeping child. The Elite footplate is quite low down which allows a lot of room for growth. The seat widths and depth are very similar, and the Elite seat is just 4cms taller. But when you look at the photos of the children (taken within days of each other), it is clear that the lower footplate of the Elite offers more room for growth a child than the Nipper.

On the Out ‘n’ About Nipper there are ventilation panels behind the children’s heads. I have to say, there is a enough ventilation for a child round the front of the Nipper without more at the back and I suspect it would be chilly and blowy for a child in winter. The Elite has similar ventilation panels but there is the option to cover the mesh with a protective cover.

Seat Recline: The seat recline on the Out ‘n’ About Nipper 360 was a real niggle point for me. There is a buckle on the back, so the seat is either in the upright position or a lie flat position. It is possible to get a mid way recline, but this involves undoing the webbing and threading it back through to the desired position. It isn’t hard but it is faffy and annoying especially when you have to do both sides! But for a new baby you could set the seat so that it lies flat, or partially sits up (rather than upright). Essentially you have the choice of lie flat and any other position you set (you can’t have part recline and upright without undoing the webbing each time). The Elite has a simple one handed toggle recline which means that you can recline the seat to any angle between upright and lie flat. It takes two hands to pull it back up again. But it is simple and easy. The seat units on both pushchairs are suitable from birth.

I found issues when putting the Nipper seats back up to upright. First of all when you push the seats back up to sitting it is very hard to do on your own, or without the child leaning forwards for you (especially if you have the seats set to upright). I found it much easier if Mr BB helped by pushing the child forwards. There is a clip that has to be done up and it is taught when upright. Secondly, when the seats return to upright, all the excess fabric bunches up on top of the seat. It takes a bit of tugging to get this fabric behind the seat again once the seat is in position because it is taught. Because you need both hands to do the buckle, you can’t really pull the fabric out as you sit the child up.

Carrycots & Car Seats:  Neither pushchair can fit either carrycots or car seats. It is possible to put a soft cot into the Elite as a parent facing carrycot option and I suspect it would be possible to do the same in the Nipper. The padded inserts of the Nipper Seat would probably make it more cosy for a newborn than the more exposed Elite seat.

Basket: The Baby Jogger Elite has one large basket with reasonably good access from the top, sides and also via the lift up kicker board below each seat. The Nipper 360 does not come with a basket as standard. You have to buy a basket as an extra to fix on.

Storage Pockets: The Out ‘n’ About Nipper 360 has two huge net storage pockets on the rear of each seat. These are absolutely brilliant and held a small but heavy rucksack plus a drink and small items in one and similar in the other. They have a really useful toggled drawstring to them which means items hopefully won’t fall out when the seats are reclined. They are the best storage pouches I have seen on any pushchair. In addition the Nipper makes good use of its hood, with two huge mesh zippered pockets on the hood which are great for keys, cameras, phones muslins and more, plus two tiny pockets that are perfect for keys or a dummy.  The only downside of all the storage is that it is on public view through the mesh but its a small point to make. The Elite has a huge amount of additional storage which includes mesh pockets on the back of the seats and a double parent console which has 12 pockets, 6 of which are covered, for all your bits and pieces.

Hoods: Both pushchairs have large hoods. The Baby Jogger City Elite has two individual hoods whereas the Nipper 360 has one large hood. The Elite Hood is much deeper than the Nipper hood, but the Nipper hood offers good shade.

Handling: Both pushchairs handle very well with a toddler and baby on board but there is no doubt that the Nipper is much lighter and lives up to its name by being very nippy. However the Nipper was so light that the wind (not strong!) could blow the pushchair with both children in along our seat front!! But the Nipper was a dream to push over sand and grass. The Elite is also very good on sand and grass but is much much heavier. Both have good rear suspension.

Both are comfortable to push but the Nipper has a fixed handle whereas the Elite has an adjustable handle that ranges from very low to very high. The Nipper handle is just about right / verging on a tad low for me at 5ft 6 ins. I prefer the spongy covering of the Nipper but there are warnings on the packaging saying that it could be easily damaged. The handlebar does hit the floor when folding. The Elite has a rubber handlebar.

Brake: The Elite has a handy handbrake whereas the Nipper 360 has a footbrake. Both are simple to apply but I did find with the Nipper that I didn’t release the footbrake far enough and so it was catching as I pushed along until I realised! It happened a few times.

Tyres: The Nipper has three pneumatic air tyres. The Elite has four ‘forever air’ tyres so should need no maintenance.

Fold: The fold on the Baby Jogger City Elite is extremely simple. It folds in half instantly using the standard Baby Jogger ‘grab the handles and pull’ method! The Out ‘n’ About Nipper 360 fold is a bit more complex. To put the pushchair up requires the fold lock to be removed, the pushchair then flicks open. Two catches need closing, and then two pins need locking into place. To fold this needs doing in reverse with the addition of a release catch to start the fold. It involves running round both sides of the pushchair to release the two sets of catches. It’s not hard though.

When folded, the pushchairs are very similar in size. If anything the Nipper is a little deeper and it is wider. This can be seen with the photos in the car boot as the Elite easily fits in, but the Nipper has to sit on the edge of the boot to fit.  I have included photos with the front wheel of the Nipper removed (easy to do) and the two back wheels of the Elite removed (again easy to do) because removing these does make a difference.

Which would Best Buggy choose?: For longevity of use, there is no doubt that the Elite would last a family from birth until their children no longer needed a pushchair simply for leg room. However the Nipper is cheaper, and is incredibly light and manoeverable and a dream to push – we loved how light and easy it was. We prefer the deeper hoods of the Elite, and the better seating position, easy recline and basket. But the storage pockets and pouches on the Nipper 360 are probably the best of any pushchair we have seen. We prefer the adjustable handle of the Elite. The fold, width and recline of the Nipper are minus points. I struggled to fit the Nipper into the car, and also I do not wish to worry about whether I need to wiggle a pushchair through a door or even remove a wheel with two heavy children in.

All round for us the Baby Jogger City Elite comes out as our preferred choice. However, there is a new version of the Nipper coming out in 2011 which addresses some of these issues and more including having an adjustable handlebar, recline, lack of basket, better seating positions and more. The new Nipper will close the gap in features, but also the price gap, between these pushchairs considerably, although for me the extra width of the Nipper will always be an issue.

Note: Please use this quick summary in conjunction with the more detailed individual reviews.