Baby Jogger City Versa GT at The Baby Show, Manchester, 2012, by Aswalia

The Baby Show in Manchester was my first opportunity to look at the Baby Jogger City Versa GT. Seeing the Versa GT was one of the reasons I wanted to visit.

My initial thought was that it looks fantastic! The basket is huge, the seat unit looks as though it could accommodate a large child and the hood gives great coverage for a sleeping child while lying flat. A bug bear of mine is how most pushchairs’ hoods don’t effectively shade the face of a sleeping child from the sun, but this definitely would. The hood has two viewing windows covered with magnetic flaps so you can keep an eye on your child while they’re facing away from you.

I tried my daughter (who is 23 months, 81cm tall and 11kg) in the seat to get a feel for the seat size and how the Baby Jogger City Versa GT feels to push with some weight in it. She had loads of room and the harness seemed as though it would suit a baby up to a 4 year old with ease. The harness was also very easy to adjust. The recline is very simple to do and the seating positions were good, including a good upright position. A carrycot is needed for a newborn baby.

The Baby Jogger City Versa GT felt light to push with my daughter in the seat. It wasn’t the lightest pushchair I’ve ever pushed, but was still very good. I had a feel of the suspension, which is on the front wheels, and there was definitely some movement but it felt a little bit stiff and seemed like it needed quite a bit of weight in the pushchair in order to make best use of the movement. I can’t imagine the suspension would be very noticeable with a small or light baby in the seat without a full basket to add extra weight. It was hard to test the benefit of the suspension and the forever air tyres on the smooth floor though so I don’t feel all that qualified to comment thoroughly on it.

The fold of the Baby Jogger City Versa GT is very simple as you would expect from a Baby Jogger. You simply squeeze two buttons together on the back of the pushchair, near the recline handle, and push the back of the seat forwards so that the seat unit folds up like a clam. This is the same whether the seat unit is parent facing or facing the world. You then simply pull a handle in the basket and lift the pushchair up into the air as it all folds up in your hand and the auto lock catches to hold the pushchair closed. This was when I noticed that the Versa GT is not exactly a light pushchair at 13kg. It is also larger folded than I’d expected, as well wider. The fold is very flat but not compact as such.

Overall, my impression of the Baby Jogger Versa GT is that it would suit the vast majority of parents as it covers most bases for the needs of parents. The only faults I can find are the weight and large but flat fold for some car boots. Personally, I would rather have all the benefits this pushchair offers and deal with the weight which is only really noticeable when carrying it.

Many Thanks go to Ladybugs and Katie from Kooltrade for allowing me to take photos, try my daughter in the seat and have a general play with their pushchairs!