The Savviest Lightweight Stroller Out There
Written: Jan 25 '06 (Updated Jan 25 '06)
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Pros: Very travel friendly: compact, comfortable, and reasonably priced
Cons: Small storage, and no tray table
The Bottom Line: If you travel often with a toddler in tow, the Combi City Savvy stroller is an absolute necessity.
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| arathi's Full Review: Combi City Savvy - Carolina Sky Standard Stroller |
As soon as we bought our tickets for our Italy vacation last December, the first thing that came to my mind was to find a travel stroller for my 14 month old daughter. Walking in the cradle of the renaissance with a small toddler was not going to be easy without finding a lightweight, but efficient stroller. I knew that the Graco stroller that I use currently to pick up my son from school, and for trips to the mall, etc, did not even stand a chance on the cobbled stone streets of Italy.
After doing some research on lightweight strollers we decided to pick up the Combi City Savvy. The Combi stroller seemed to have the right combination of the necessary features that we were looking for in a travel stroller.
Light Weight: The first feature that we were looking for in a travel stroller was that it had to be light weight; we wanted to be able to fold and carry the stroller with ease at airports and other places without problems. The City Savvy with its aluminum framing, at a mere 12 pounds, fit the bill perfectly. It was very easy to fold, and carry the stroller with the provided shoulder strap.
I could hang the stroller on my shoulder, and hold my daughter at the same time without any problems. Sometimes, even the best stroller is not a guarantee that your toddler will not end up in your arms, especially if she has made up her mind! The travel bag that came with the stroller was handy when we had to hand the stroller over to the airport personnel at the gates just before getting on the plane.
Compactness : Everything in Europe in smaller, and so our travel stroller had to be compact. The Combi with a width of just 18 inches, and a height of 39 inches fit in perfectly even in the pint sized elevator of our historic apartment building in Florence. We took this stroller into many tiny roadside cafés and stores in both Florence and Rome without any issues. I even used this stroller as a high (well, not exactly high) chair in restaurants that did not provide high chairs for kids. When tri-folded, the stroller measured just around 10” in width. Anything wider than this would have very difficult to fit into the compact car that we had rented in Tuscany, along with our other bags.
Comfort and Safety : Sure, an umbrella stroller would probably have been lighter (and cheaper), but then it would also have been very bare boned. Try sitting in one of those camping chairs for more than an hour, and you will know what I mean. The City Savvy, with its washable cushioned seat in an air mesh material made long hauls, a little more comfortable for our baby. The stroller had a five point harness system, with padded straps for comfort, and safety. The fully reclining seat helped her take her naps peacefully, at her scheduled times, even when we were walking around, eating out in restaurants, or hitting the museums.
Price: With designer strollers, costing almost as much as used cars these days, the City Savvy was a bargain. At $99 a pop, the price, I think is very fair for a stroller with all these neat features.
Looks : They say that “form follows function”, and this is a true fact as far is this stroller is concerned. It looks sleek, savvy, and hip, because it functions so well. The gray and blue color scheme is very pleasant, and a nice break from the multicolored traditional strollers.
Other Features : The Combi has a medium sized storage basket, and we could store our small diaper bag and a couple of other small things in it without problems. The mesh bag storage at the back of the stroller was a good place for our Rick Steve guidebooks.
The canopy of the stroller, while not huge, helped our baby stay dry when it was raining. The stroller has a padded, no frills handle bar that my daughter held on to, and sometimes even put her feet put up on as though it was a reclining chair! People with smaller babies could probably Velcro small toys to the handle bar, but my toddler would pull out the toys and toss them out if I had done so. I could steer this stroller with one hand easily, while pushing a roll-on bag or other bags at airports, and other places.
Despite its petite looks, this stroller is strong; it held up very well to the 15 days of all day walking on cobbled stone streets, and I am sure that we will be able to use it for many more of our vacations in the future. The Combi is built to hold up to 45 pounds, and only time will tell if we will get to that stage with our present stroller.
Final Note: If you have read this far, you’ll probably know that I was extremely pleased with this stroller. I would have been happier if there was a small tray table in the front to hold snacks and a cup, and a bigger storage bag in the back would also have been nicer, but still this stroller is as close to perfection as you can get. Chockfull of useful features, and reasonably priced, the Combi City Savvy, is probably one of the best lightweight travel strollers out there.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 99
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
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Epinions.com ID:
arathi
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Member: Arathi Srikantaiah
Reviews written: 65
Trusted by: 42 members
About Me:
Aditi was born on Oct 9, 2004.
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