Baby Jogger City Elite v’s Air Buggy Mimi

Having owned the Baby Jogger City Elite for several months I decided to try an Air Buggy Mimi to see how they compare.

The Baby Jogger City Elite has a much bigger hood and a deeper seat, so when my little one is sat in it, she has much more room than in the Air Buggy Mimi. The hood is so much better on the Elite for naps and shelter from the wind / sun. The Air Buggy Mimi is still comfortable for my little one, although her legs seem to already fill the ‘foot rest’. The hood is still pretty big and has a good size viewing panel, and has the ability to have an exposed net on recline similar to the Baby Jogger.

The Air Buggy is so much more compact, smaller wheels, shorter footprint making it less of a road hog when using it in town! It handles the off road use nearly as easily as the Elite, I have to admit to preferring the ‘forever air’ tyres of the Elite as I cannot bear the thought of a puncture whilst out and about.

The Air Buggy Mimi is easy to push and feels a bit lighter than the Elite. Although strangely the Elite is the easiest to push one handed.

The Elite is so easy to fold, with the classic Baby Jogger one hand fold. The Air Buggy is easy to fold as is just a squeeze on either side of the handle bar , they are roughly the same size when folded, but the wheels on the elite make it wider so would be best to remove them to fit in a small boot.

The handle bar of the Air Buggy is fixed and therefore may be too short for taller parents, whereas the Elite handlebar is adjustable and would suit even the tallest parent! The Air Buggy’s handle is foam which is soft and I prefer this to the hard rubber handle of the Baby Jogger Elite.

I love that the Air Buggy comes complete with so many accessories, compared to the Baby Jogger Elite for which you have to buy everything for including the raincover, although it does come with a parent console built in.

The seat height in the Air Buggy is impressive, but the hood being a straight hood as apposed to the dome of the Elite hood means that when the hood is down, the head clearance is no where near as high as the Elite.

The Air Buggy has a painted black finish to the frame, mine has already suffered a chip to the front from folding. The Elite has hard moulded plastic to the front of the frame which would scratch rather than chip, which I think is better.

The Elite has the fantastic feature of being able to lock the front wheel buy the turn of a flick switch above the front wheel, whereas I haven’t actually found a way to lock the front wheel on the Air Buggy.

The Air Buggy looks somewhat more utilitarian to me. I am not sure if that is just the brown colour way I have, or the fabric type itself which is quite a tough canvas type feel. The Elite fabric in comparison feels more luxurious and stylish.

The storage of the Elite is much better; from the built in parent console to the very handy net storage on the back of the seat, and huge under basket. The Air Buggy Mimi has no pockets, just a big shopping basket underneath- I did not find this that easy to access even though it unzips at the side to improve access.

The Elite has a hand brake whereas the Air Buggy has the traditional foot brake. This hasn’t been that big a deal clincher for me at the moment as I find it annoying that the Elite brake is trapped under the raincover (which has been nearly permanently on the last few weeks!) but I am sure in my summer footwear I would be grateful for it!

In conclusion they are both fantastic pushchairs. I like elements of both, the seat and hood of the Elite, but prefer the size of the Air Buggy. The Air Buggy is a much more compact package, and for people like me that are urban that do the occasional country walk could be the better bet. If you are more extreme with the off roading or even more into long dog walks or even just have a particularly large child etc the elite would win hands down.
My heart does, and always will belong to the Baby Jogger