Perambulators, strollers, and sundry curious conveyances
Wilmington, Delaware. Rock Star Baby, car seat configuration:
Is it the baby who’s the “rock star”? Why, no — it’s the stroller’s designers, Bon Jovi and Tico Torres. I kid you not. (Warning, the website’s incomprehensible, and impossible to navigate. Form over function. Dumb. But stylish.)
West Chester, Pennsylvania. Bugaboo Cameleon:
Bright and cheery. One doesn’t often see the pram version outside of NYC; it’s used for too few months per child, and the concentration of Bugaboos falls hugely once you’ve left the Upper East Side.
San Francisco, SFO. A German Gesslein, probably a Future :
Ask me how impressed I was to see that a charming young German couple flew to San Francisco with their super-tank of a pram/pushchair. No compromises here! At the end of their vacation, they were still thrilled to have had it, and why not? With a carriage this size, it’s possible to sightsee all day long without compromising a baby’s comfort one little bit. Take that, you wimpy North Americans with your plastic carseats-cum-baby-haulers!
San Francisco, The Financial District (or, rather, on the edge thereof). Zooper Waltz:
Silhouette of a Maclaren, but it’s a flat-fold. This means you get a solid front bar, should such matter to you, and skip the awesome, grille-like grid that blocks the Mac’s basket. And you get a much bigger, slightly more accessible, basket. Of course, you won’t be flinging this one onto your shoulder to carry it, either, as you can with a Mac. Different strokes, as they say.
San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. Orbit:
Yes, folks, if you want to see more Orbits per square inch, CAS is the place to be. There’s no rest for the shutter in this territory. This Orbit chassis has the car seat attached. Orbit’s car seat is huge — much bigger and bulkier than everything else out there. But if you’re going to haul your kid around in a plastic box, it’s probably much nicer for the kid if it’s a big plastic box.
San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. Orbit, with toddler seat:
Blurry, because this guy was booking along (and on the other side of the window). The hand position on the only Orbit I’ve tried was very uncomfortable for me, but the handles didn’t impede Mr. Speedy here one bit. Still, my own hands ache when I look at the angle of his wrists.
San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. Orbit:
A beautiful day, and a most unusual sight. One of Orbit’s claims to fame is the rotating seat, which would seemingly be most relevant when navigating indoors, where space might be tight. This little passenger, though, is taking in a side view as he (or she) is strolled along. It’s a odd choice, but perhaps parents and grandparents who explore the CAS with babies in tow are more experimental than most.
San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. Baby Jogger City Mini and UPPABaby Vista:
Ah, the City Mini: All the discomfort of a jogger, without the big wheels. Well, they’re cute, and they’re small (at least compared to standard joggers), and they fold. But they’re not really joggers, and only sort-of strollers.
The Mini’s in profile; the stroller on the right is the Vista. UPPABaby shows up all over The City, which is interesting. I haven’t seen nearly as many on the east coast, even though headquarters (“World Headquarters and Factory Showroom”) is in Hingham, Massachusetts.
San Francisco, Asian Art Museum. Perego Skate:
Yeah, blurry. You have no idea how tricky it is to snap these things on the fly; not to mention that I really wasn’t at the museum to check out the strollers. Honest.
San Francisco, The Mission. Maxi-Cosi Foray:
Hope you don’t use the excellent Firefox browser when attempting to look up Maxi-Cosi. Even with scripting enabled, I get no images on the site. Nice work, Dorel programmers!
Related: Another SF spot, in Japantown. Same city, different Foray.