Now then, Mrs Cove here. Mini Cove is 5 months old. The pram-buggy thing we got from some friends when he was born has rattled itself to pieces after too much ill advised off roading (it was an elderly Quinny Buzz, which had been in use pretty much constantly for 5 years). We have decided against buying lots of spare parts and bodging it, and will get a new buggy.

We are thinking of the Phil&Ted’s Sport Buggy. It seems narrow enough to get round town and robust enough to cope with longer bridleway/trail centre type walks. It also seems to fold up pretty small. We live in the countryside and I will walk to the village shops (a couple of miles away) a couple of times a week, and the footpaths aren’t the smoothest. Occassionally I have to go into town. For big, long hilly walk he goes in his backpack.

Any of you outdoor type parents got a Phil&Ted’s Sport? What do you think of it?

Not got a Phil & Teds, but the only (type of) thing that works on our bridle ways is a Jogging Stroller with 16″ wheels – and even that is tough sometimes.

(It wouldn’t work round the shops though, we have a McClaren fold up buggy for that.)

£30 VGC from eBay!

I think we’ve got the older version of the sport – it looks similar anyway. It’s a decent buggy – quite heavy though and could do with a handbrake if you have any downhilling in mind!

TBH with offroading unless the path is very smooth the little tinkers get bounced around a lot.

big peneumatic wheels is what you need for rough stuff I think if you can only afford one pram get the Phil & ted as it seems OK for most purposes.
If you have the space for two (probably cheaper given price of above) recomend a proper off roader pram and a smaller townie /public transport/car foldable one like a stroller.

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We’ve used one of the above (clicky above)and it really is superb. It’s kept at my parents farm, they managed to acquire it in slightly ‘agricultural’ condition for free. Off road across pasture land etc it is effortless to push. We’ve now almost outgrown a double Instep 3 wheeler which we’d also recommend. The easylife is pretty chunky and doesn’t fold up too small (fits in the boot of an Alfa 156 OK) and seems heavy to lug about into cars etc but is not noticable in use. Have noticed them pretty cheap on ebay, probably because they’re not a big UK brand. Ours would take alot of TLC to get to a saleable condition!

we’re currently transporting littlelister#2 in our Britax Vigour 3 which saw littlelister#1 well.

it’s a great combination of offroader(biggish pneumatic wheels and lockable front wheel) and ‘towny’ puchchair(short wheelbase and swivel front wheel if needed).

it also has a great pram attachment, can be used with a britax car seat and the main seat bit can be forward or rear facing and reclines to almost flat.

it’s done lots of the pembrokeshire coast path and beaches and is still going strong.

they don’t seem to be that common but it’s great.

we’ve also got a twin seater OutandAbout Little Nipper with is SOO light and lovely for a double…so I can only think that the single will be great as well.

those easylife buggies are ok except the pivot on the front wheel can rattle annoyingly. i looked into modifying one for some friends, it’s basically a set of bicycle forks but with a plastic bushing instead of a headset

We have the Phil & Ted’s – Overpriced shite!!!

handles wobble from new meaning getting on & off kerbs is a right chore

narrow seating for kids on the upper percentile range

tyres thickness measured in microns so puncture very easily

wheels take a 12″ tyres that is actually too large, so getting them seated after a puncture is near impossible

Accessories are expensive

Did I mentione they’re overpriced???

The Mrs was adamant that’s what we needed, no matter how much i pointed alternatives out. We’fre now a much poorer family for it, and get out less. The mcLaren we had prior to this was soooo much better.

we’ve got a Mountain Buggy Urban you can have for a good price – got the carry cot, effectively turning it into a pram, and the sitting up bit. Similar to the Phil and Teds on bridleways (baby number two necessitated buying a Phil and Ted), but quite a bit lighter due to an alloy chassis. Seems to handle most mad and partly made paths ok, struggles a bit at the beach though if you go too slowly on dry sand.

What’s the ideal though (and setting you up very nicely for the future), is something like a chariot bike trailer with the stroller or jogger kits… pretty expensive though.

Mountain Buggy – Company that makes them has just gone TU as well…

BOB revolution

we have a single and a double, great outdoors and great around town.

“end of thread”

Hi Mrs Cove. The Missus and I looked around for a while in the end we plumped for a chariot CX. Its expensive and a little bit wide in the single version. the double one is massive, but no more than other two seaters. If you have to transport two the Phil & Teds is probably best around town. But outdoors stuff the chariot wins. Suspension for the little one a range of accessories to adapt to hiking or biking very versatile. If you’re near Cardiff you’re welcome to have a look.

Sam

We’ve got a Phil and Teds and really couldn’t be more pleased with it. Yes it was expensive but they hold their value very well, not had any real issues with it, a couple of punctures yes but nothing more than that. We’ve really thrashed it over the 3 years we used it, it probably did more miles than our car, still going strong albeit a bit tatty now. For off road type stuff I’d say it was fine over tow path like surfaces and hardpack but not much more than that really. Of course it’s biggest advantage and ultimately the reason we bought it is that it takes 2, although with 2 aboard there is scant storage space.

I’m tempted to agree to some extent, mildred. Certainly had the choice been all mine we’d have got something different, and I’m still not that impressed by the engineering. However it doesn’t work anywhere near as badly as you seem to suggest. Yes we’ve had punctures, but it’s been hard work getting the huge thorns out of the tyres – would have been a lot easier had they only been microns thick. Meanwhile I’m not sure I understand your issue with wheel/tyre sizing – yes changing tubes is a pain, but that’s largely a function of it getting harder with smaller wheels (you should try changing tubes on my 6″ rollerski wheels!)

narrow seating for kids on the upper percentile range

Does that mean your kids are fat? Can’t say I’ve ever noticed any lack of space.

Meanwhile the USPs of the highest handle we could find (SWMBO is 6’2″) and the ability to take 2 kids in tandem when mini-aracer #2 arrives still apply.

No, kids not fat, but my 2 yr old is the same size as her 3 year old cousins, and because the main upper seat is quite bucketed, it pushes her shoulders in, making it uncomfortable for her. and my 1 yr old is the same size as most 20 mth – 2 yr olds, which makes getting him into the lower seat a real struggle. the wife and I are both from large stock – I’m the shortest male for 2 generations at 6′, and she is average for a female of her family at 5’10” – her 3 brothers are all 6’3″ +.

The idea is brilliant but the execution, or engineering, is dire when you compare it with alternatives for much less money. I’ve had to swap the tyres for some Scwalbe things because the originals simply do not fit the rims properly That is, a 12″ tyre is the correct size, but the rims are just a little too small for them meaning the tyre doesn’t sit properly. Also, I’ve had real problems getting hold of 12″ innertubes with a bent valve stem (well, for any less than £8 each).

All in all for the money there are too may issues for me to recommend Phil & Ted’s, and had I known then what I know now – it would not have found house room.

We have one, Aus spec if that makes a difference.

It’s a good buggy. The more deluxe one they had (can’t recall what it’s called) failed at the handle, the break was incorporated into it – push down style. Anyway that all failed. I think that range was removed from the shops though as when we complained it was a no argument money back, and it’s gone from their website.

Anyway, yeah I’d use it off road. Though the seat is hammock like so it’ll sway a fair bif if you’re going for it. Mountain Buggy are better, more expensive but are the landrover (MkIII of course) of buggies.
Probably not a real tough buggy, but OK for occasional use off road.

I think their basic model is probably not bad either, the bar isn’t click adjustable, which does mean you can put some weight on it without risk of the lock failing – useful for getting over logs etc…

We also had a Stealcraft Transition (Aus brand) which was awsome, just couldn’t handle two of the little blighters. That thing was/is bomb proof – and I miss it as a buggy to use for sure (and was well priced).

We have one and it’s been great although we did wreck the storage compartment underneath due to going on a very rocky path one day, (hangs quite low) although spoke with the shop and they replaced it free of charge so can’t complain.

Ours has the adjustable handle (i think all newer ones do) and no problems there which is great for various people pushing.

Depends what your’ve after as if you intend to use it mainly offroad there are better out there (mountain buggy etc) or if you intend to use it main in town and shopping there are better. but as a combination of both its very good, if not a little expensive

More happy P & T owners here. Not the best built buggy, the Loola it replaced was way way better built, but plenty good enough. Has had a nearly two years of abuse now, thrown in & out the car, dragged around Cannock Chase, bumped up & down kerbs etc. No problems to report. It solves the problem of carrying two little ones around. Also, & a big plus, its easy to handle with one hand even with two aboard. Off road just lower the tyre pressure a bit.
Downsides…its expensive & its also too narrow for the kiddy that sits in front. The P & T accessories are stupidly expensive.

There’s a gazillion and one P+T’s on ebay. Start watching them to see how much they go for (and with what accessories – most seem to have doubles kit, cover and cocoon). I watched on and off for about a month and in my experience under about 190 quid is a good price. Of course you’ll probably need to be picking up to avoid 25 quid postage. We got lucky and got one for 160 quid – it’s a bit scuffed and needed a couple of heavy duty stitches but well pleased with it so far. I don’t think we’ll get loads of use out of it because in 6-8 months the youngest will be able to ride around in a push chair and the eldest will walk or stand on one of those boards that attach, hence wanting a second hand one – I reckon we’ll only lose 30-40 quid on it.

Hello friends .I think you guys are in deep discussion on the Phil&Ted’s Sport Buggy,about its features ,quality ,price and durability .I also read some good reviews about P & T’s sport buggy .But, before this product is launched I got Targo city Pushchair for my baby which I am using from last one year.I suggest people to go with Phil&Ted’s Sport Buggy for their newly born babies .

Wow this thread is a God send! We are expecting our first baby in July 🙂 We have been going round in circles with what pram to get. I think the out n about nipper looks great value and gets good reviews, I can’t believe we have never come across them before. We could get that for outdoorsy stuff and a lightweight McClaren type one for the shops jobs a good ‘un.

we looked around, Which magazine reckoned the best off road one was the Quinny Speedi. Got the pram, but not been off road with it yet.

Can recommend the Out n About Nipper 360. We looked at several differnt makes and models and this was by far the lightest and easiest for lifting into the boot of the car. 9 Months of daily use and its still in great shape.