Jané Twone at Harrogate Nursery Fair 2012

The Jané Twone is the reason I love doing what I do. The Twone is a pushchair which has come seemingly out of nowhere, grabbed me, and impressed me enough to want to buy one!!! Please read on!!!

We first spotted the prototype of the Jané Twone at Harrogate last year. I have to say we were not particularly impressed because the lower seat seemed too close to the upper one, with little leg room. I have followed the Twone’s progress this year and knew it was about to be launched, but it still really held no interest. Even at the Harrogate show we were not too bothered about seeing it, and had looked from afar on the previous day. However as we passed the stand for the last time, I decided to have a closer look.

Even looking close up, I have to say the Jané Twone looked great for two babies in the Matrix car seats but I was struggling to see how two toddlers could fit into such a small space. Even as we went through the demo, I was still wondering where the children would fit. The lower seat looked so low in the basket too. So I asked to put the children in the seat units….which to be honest I thought was probably a bit ludicrous of me and that the Jané team would take one look at my two and say no way……..but thank goodness they said yes because at that point the whole pushchair transformed for me……

The Jané Twone was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Jané Twone has a tiny footprint, teeeny weeny fold and two seat units which my really tall 3 and a half year old could fit into easily. The children both looked incredibly comfortable in the upright seat units. During the initial demo I had been so concerned over the lack of leg room that I had asked if the front of the basket undid (which it does) to allow little feet to rest on the front bar. But I was sooooooooooooooooooooo wrong!! Both children had loads and loads of space to stretch their feet right out along the basket. There was even space if we packed correctly for my handbag or a couple of Pacapods or a small amount of shopping in the front basket. Amazing but true!!

Believe me there was no one more gobsmacked than I was, that this little pushchair was working so well.

And then I pushed it……and it didn’t flinch at all….there was no effort to make it move forwards at all… With the best part of 30kgs of child weight on board the Jané Twone just glided along the carpet. Admittedly it was lovely smooth carpet, but most tandems do take a bit of a push to get started with this amount of child weight in and the Twone was effortless to push. I was sooooooo floored that I insisted the demo lady took the children for a quick walk too, and I think she was pretty amazed as well. I had no issues bumping my shins on the lower seat and the handlebar felt good in my hand.

Remembering that these are first impressions – my daughter could fit easily in both seats and the harnesses did up fine. She could get her head underneath both hoods (she is 102cms tall). She had loads of leg room in the lower seat and she sat comfortably – no hanging from the seat as with another leading tandem. Please bear in mind that my daughter is at the maximum age / height really for pushchair use, so the fact she fits in the seats really well was brilliant. The only negative I could see during our short demo was the lack of a front footrest. It seemed to me that with the calf rest down on the front seat, my daughter was trying to find somewhere to rest her feet, even though she usually likes to dangle her legs. I have to say looking back at the photos now, she clearly didn’t have an issue with no foot rest, and her seating position looks great; but at the time it seemed like she did. At the time I raised the calf rest up to horizontal, which she was equally as happy with.

We loved the small details too – the handbrake, the rotating handlebar, the bumper bar on the front seat, the good reclines, the sides to the lower seat to allow a child to nap comfortably, and also the way the centre bar under the main seat removes to allow better access to the lower child. It wasn’t easy to access the lower child ie to remove them without removing the upper seat unit – which is probably the only obvious negative – but for the ease of pushability, compact footprint, style and overall child and adult comfort, I could forgive it that detail. Yes the seats may still look close, but there are plenty of gaps in the unfussy chassis, to allow the lower child to see out. It certainly appears to have better space than say a Phil&Teds.

The Jané Twone can also take two Matrix lie flat / sit upright car seats which do look very smart on the chassis. Or the Twone works very well with one Matrix car seat in the lower position with a toddler on top. We tried the Matrix car seat on top but it leaves no room for the toddler underneath. I have left the photo in to show this. From reading the literature there are apparently up to 80 different combinations possible for the Twone, so I am sure anyone can find some combinations from those 80 to suit them!

As the name implies, the Jané Twone can be used as a single pushchair. The seat can parent or forward face. We didn’t try the Twone in single mode but I suspect given the small footprint, that as a single the Twone doesn’t look too large.

My only regret now was that I hadn’t looked at the Jané Twone more closely when I had been child free – but to be honest I dont think I would have been as impressed if I hadn’t put the children in the seats. But I now want to look at the details more closely – how the handbrake works?; what is behind the zip on the hood?; does the bumper bar swing away?; how small the fold actually is, and how easy it was to do?; how do the seats stack eg in the car?; Can you push any shopping etc in through the sides or front of the basket? I actually feel frustrated now because I really really want to know more!

I have to say from my first impressions of the Jané Twone, I would absolutely love to own one. I think the Twone, along with a couple of other new tandems this year is finally going to give the Britax B-Dual a run for its money. Finally there in 2012 there will be a choice of seemingly good tandems on the market which hopefully should be able to carry twins or siblings from birth until three. I am honestly absolutely amazed how well the Twone seems to work especially as my two children are no lightweights, and I do like them to look comfortable in the seats and with leg room!

I am absolutely delighted with the Jané Twone and can’t wait to find out more!