Full featured luxury stroller paired with a so-so car seat
Written: Apr 20 '04 (Updated Aug 31 '04)
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Pros: Reversable, bassinet, well made, reasonably light weight
Cons: Pricey, no parent cup holders
The Bottom Line: A great full featured stroller with bassinet and reversable handle; two uncommon but very usable features. Needs to improve on accessories.
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| kfgecko's Full Review: Peg Perego Venezia Single SA - Black Sable Standar... |
Our stroller purchase decision came down to two things: functions or lightweight? We ended up going with our gut and bought this Peg Perego Venezia stroller and are glad we did.
After interviewing our friends who had babies before us (this was our first) everyone overwhelmingly said to get as light a stroller as possible because the mom's little (petite) frame would really get worked hauling the thing in and out of the trunk. But we really were impressed with the Venezia's ability to reverse the handle so the baby can face forwards or backwards when you push, it's direct compatibility to a car seat (Peg Perego's), and the ability for the stroller to transform into either a winter or summer bassinet. Even with the high price tag, we went with this one.
THE STROLLER AND CAR SEAT COMBO
We purchased out Venezia stroller as a combo with the Primo Viaggio car seat. Our choice was the Venezia, and although we didn't care the for the Primo Viaggio car seat as much as other brands, we stuck with it for compatibility reasons.
Review of the car seat: http://www.epinions.com/content_138045525636
This stroller and car seat pair work very well together; allowing quick locking of the car seat into the stroller via two retratable harnesses in the stroller. Since the stroller is reversable, our baby could be pushed so that she sees forward or faces us. This feature was rarely used with the car seat because while she was in the car seat, she was either too young (infant) to care or asleep. However, as we used the stroller by itself, the reversable handle was a godsend as we could very quickly switch directions depending upon the blowing wind, direction of the sun, and mood of our daughter.
The stroller has a canopy and with the car seat canopy closed as well, you get a near enclosed stroller for a sleeping or cold baby. There is still a good sized gap, however, which easily allows the baby to peek out the sides or cold wind to blow in. For this reason, I think they could have made the hoods on both items close a little farther to close the final gap.
One minor complaint: the stroller by itself is well balanced, but when the car seat is mounted on it, the weight distribution biases the rear wheels. In some cases, this allows the lightly loaded front wheels to loose traction, and begin swivelling around, making manuevering difficult. A quick lift of the handle solves this, but balance is clearly not as good when the car seat is on.
THE STROLLER
By itself, the Venezia is a spectacular stroller. Made with high quality cloth for comfort and good support with aluminum framing for light weight strength, the Venezia is well built... and you pay for it. The seat bottom is a firm flat plastic base with a padded cloth seat. The back has firm support with continued seat padding up it. It seems very comfortable. It is made of a polyester material that makes spills easier to clean, but it doesn't breath as well which makes our baby sweat a little, especially in the car seat. We try to remedy this by putting cotton cloths on the seat first.
The stroller is well balanced and maneuvers very well when it is used as a stroller with no car seat. The plastic double wheels have small shocks and about six inches in diameter which provides a good comprimise between size and ride quality. They aren't air tires, so bumpy sidewalks will give your baby a jiggle.
The handle is tilt adjustable but not height adjustable. The tilt approximates customization for differents heights. I'm 6'0" and my wife is 5'0" and it adjusts to us acceptably, however because it adjusts by tilting the handle, a mechanical advantage is lost the further you tilt it. Neither me or my wife have had problems kicking the foot rest as we push. A wonderful feature that we found our selves using a lot once we took the car seat off is the reversable handle. With a two hand release, the push bar flips over to the other side to allow you to push from the other direction. The front wheels must then be locked straight and the rear wheels unlocked to allow steering in the reverse direction. This has provided an added bonus: the ability to unlock all four wheels for steering; great for moving around tight spaces common when at restaurants, windows, etc.
The stroller seat has a 5 point harness to keep your child secured. The belts also unhitch at the seat back so your child can be strapped in and still have the freedom to lean forwards (for non-moving applications like sitting at a restaurant. This is great so that you don't fuss with the buckles in order to give your child some freedom. Then, when it's time to get moving, you simply hook the strap harness back onto the chair which forces the child to sit back in the chair.
The under basket is pretty small compared to some baskets in other brand strollers, but it's still able to hold our rather large diaper back (with some effort).
We absolutely love the ability of the stroller to quickly become a bassinet. Our baby is 8 months old now and we use the bassinest feature exclusively when strolling around. This allows her to play with her toys without us worrying about them "falling through the cracks". The stroller is transformed into a bassinet by lifting the leg support into a horizontal position, extending the front bar, and then either extending the mesh screen (for a summer bassinet) or snapping on the thick insulated cloth cover (for a winter bassinet). The canopy is already fully enclosed to the seat back, so which the back down flat or upright, baby has a nice little "play area".
My biggest complaint is the total lack of conveniences for the adults: cup holders, and trays. We purchased an accessory cup holder, but since it's a 3rd party one, it sticks out from the stroller and often gets in the way, especially when folding the stroller up.
Folding the stroller up is easy with two steps of the foot on release switches. The stroller folds nicely and requires two hands to lift it into the trunk. Baby is usually strapped in her car seat while this happens, so we never found it to be a problem. This may change with multiple kids.
COMPARISONS
Graco metrolight - the metrolight is lighter than the Venezia but access to the basket is just as frustrating as the stroller seat back gets in the way. The price was a lot less, but it had a soft back seat and strap adjustements (my wife didn't care for this, although I didn't see the problem) and that was it. A good basic stroller.
Graco Quattro - excellent features and nice and sturdy. However, this was the heaviest of the strollers so the Venezia won on weight.
Combi Ultra Savvy- a top favorite amongst our friends, the Combi was the lightest but also assumed the petite child and wasn't directly compatible to care seats (it requires a strap be used instead of a quick click mechanism).
CONCLUSION
Overall, we love the stroller. It has a ton a great usable features, is well built, and isn't too heavy considering all the features. I complain that it doesn't come with integrated cup holders for mom/dad, and that the paired car seat could use a bunch of improvements. But as a stroller, the Venezia is top notch.
UPDATE AUGUST 2004
This years model of this stroller has improved a few features; we wish we had them on our year. They've added handles to the sides of the stroller so that someone can lift up the stroller while in the fully expanded position. This helps a lot for times when you have just a few steps in a parking garage to traverse and you don't want to bother walking several blocks to get to the one elevator.
They've also added a stretchable back to the underbasket which makes it much much easier to access things, especially when the seat is fully reclined.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200
Age Range of Child: 0 to 12 Months
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Epinions.com ID:
kfgecko
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Location: San Jose, California
Reviews written: 166
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About Me:
30-something male, born/raised in Northern-California.
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