Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Safari is rugged, has a great sun shade, is portable, and is WELL PRICED ($120). It hits a terrific balance between a jogger's handling & sturdy build and a fancy stroller's comfort & amenities. /_/ Our needs /_/ * We walk and jog daily on a series of walking trails that are rugged and unevenly maintained. * We needed a stroller that could take a beating on the wheels, yet keep baby riding smoothly. * We wanted to keep the sun off of baby when out walking in the early morning sunrise or sunset. * We have 10 mo. old and we wanted a stroller she could grow into. * We don't take the stroller in the car that often, but when we do, we have a small car and need to be able to fit the stroller into it. * We wanted something to last and to be versatile, but didn't want to break the bank. /_/ Pros /_/ *WIDE canopy (almost 2 feet) can be folded flat against the handles, or can be pulled wide as a shade. It is NOT attached to the handlebars, so it can be pulled down to block the sun at ANY angle - and stays there!. It can go from up/horizontal (as shown) to down and vertical, resting against the snack tray and obscuring baby's view like a giant shield. With a fair-skinned kid who hates to be blinded by sun, this THE SELLING POINT. The canopy also has a window with a cover to peek in on a sleeping baby. (NOTE: When in shield position, baby just looks out at the world from between her feet. She does not mind this - for now - but I can't vouch for the future or other kids.) *Rides well. The swivel wheel, wide tires, and comfy handlebar make for awesome driving. It is also surprisingly light for a jogger. *Good seat for baby. It has a nice layer of padding. The seat drops into a recline position for a sleeping baby (About 175 degrees, I'd venture - a little up from fully horizontal) and comes up into a seated position (not quite 90 degrees - about 100) The shoulder straps are padded; the adjustment of the shoulder height is very easy. The 5 point harness is padded so as not to pinch baby and is very easy to snap in and out of. *Easy to assemble. I (mom) assembled this myself. It comes just needing a few pieces snapped into place, the front wheel attached, and the kick plate screwed on. It took about 15 minutes. The manual was easy to follow. *Easy to fold down. Push a button and fold. The side wheels come off to more fully compact it. With that said, this is NOT a compact stroller. It takes up about the size of two carry-ons laying side by side. It fits in the trunk of our compact car (a VW Rabbit), but not much else fits in there with it. But as our old, hand-me-down jogger didn't fit at ALL, that's a major improvement. *Comfy to walk/jog behind. I'm fairly tall (5'10") and most strollers cause me to hunch over - especially umbrella strollers with their double handles. This solid bar handle is at a comfortable height. You can drive it one handed, it rides so nicely. It doesn't take a lot of effort to push it, even uphill. *Nice features for baby. The snack tray for baby is useful and come detached easily for cleaning. The kick plate for kiddo's feet is nice and flat (our old one had the front wheel bumping up into it). * Nice features for parent. The brakes and all parts having to do with collapsing down the stroller are a nice bright RED for easy detection. The parent tray has cup holders reinforced with rubber sides to hold drinks in place. There is also a compartment on the parent's tray that snaps shut to hold keys, a phone, and has a cord hole for headphones. The compartment isn't huge, however - a Google Droid won't fit, for example. Still, when jogging, it's nice to put your keys on the stroller so you don't have to carry them, but they won't bounce out along the trail. The undercarriage bag is a decent size - to me it seems less rugged than the rest of the rig. I'm taking it off for the major trails. The reflectors are a nice addition. * Feels solid. The fabric is a good, heavy coated canvas. The wheels are more like bike tires. The ride is tight and responsive. The only exceptions are mentioned below in Cons. *The price. At around $120, it's a good investment and much cheaper than fancy models of 4 wheelers that take up more room with more junk you don't need, aren't rugged, and don't have a good canopy. /_/ Cons /_/ Not much. This is a great stroller. Still... *Under carriage bag seems less rugged than the rest of the rig. Our old stroller's bag was all torn up from previous use. I'd leave this on for zoo trips and the like, but take it off for trail running. *The key-holder cover feels a little flimsy. I'm concerned it might snap off if handled too rough. *The new wheels are rubber tires on plastic hubs. The old model had metal hubs. Now, this doesn't seem to be a problem, really, and it makes the stroller lighter than the older model (I tried the old model at the store). But we'll see how they hold up. Of course, most strollers have much wimpier wheels than these. Overall, this is a GREAT product. We're very pleased with it, and look forward to seeing how it performs on our home trails and streets. ******************************** UPDATE: Tested in 12k race and we still love it! ******************************** We took part in the Spokane, WA tradition of Bloomsday, a 12k run with over 50,000 participants. Walking with the strollers group, we got a chance to test this on 7.5 miles of roads and compare it to other joggers and strollers near us. Our conclusion? We love this thing. * Perfect balance in handling. My husband commented that "This thing handles like a dream." Light and responsive, a slight nudge and it goes where you want. The big wheels help keep the ride smooth, even when we were dodging crowds and taking it over curbs that cropped up in places along the course. The single front wheel is MUCH easier to maneuver than a 4 wheeler. The tall handle bar made it easy to push (saw many moms hunched over other strollers), the light weight made it easy to push even uphill (the infamous Doomsday Hill, that is). * Perfect balance of utility and comfort. We saw a lot of fancy 4 wheel strollers (Gracos, mostly) and Bob strollers that run into the $300+ range. The 4 wheelers had lots of bells and whistles, but with the small plastic wheels, they had trouble moving at fast walking speeds or when they hit things like curbs, went off the pavement into the shoulder, etc. The Bob strollers are nice, but very spartan. Before and after the race, we were able to give the kiddo crackers in her snack tray and not take her out. We could also put our keys into the key compartment and keep the metal water bottle up in the cup holder on the bar, right in reach. The fancy joggers had none of those amenities. I felt like the Safari hit the right note between comfort for parent and child and solid engineering. * Carries stuff without compromising handling. We put a blanket and discarded sweats in the undercarriage and attached our Kelty K.I.D.S. Messenger Diaper Bag to the back (down near the red tabs on the handlebars - keeps it from hitting your legs and doesn't overbalance the stroller too badly down there, but you can still reach it). We had all we needed for ourselves and baby for the morning out at the race. Yet it never felt too heavy. * Sun shade still a stellar feature. Adjusting the shade to the sun and wind as we went, we kept baby safe from the elements. The full "shield" effect worked wonders in the final stretch when wind was in her face. * Comfy ride for baby. She slept the first hour of the race in the recline position. The smooth riding kept her asleep, too. When she woke, she happily watched people's feet go by. The backrest is solid enough to give good support, but padded enough to be comfy. The kid spent 3 HOURS strapped in that thing and only got fussy when wind and hunger got to her at the end. * Packs well: We drove to a bus stop, then took public transit to the race. We had to be ready to break the stroller down for the bus and then back up in a quick instant so as not to keep crowds of people waiting. It snapped down and back up easily and readily. One of us could do it alone with the other holding baby and gear. A Few noted Cons: * Still not a compact stroller. This packs well, but it takes up room. On a crowded bus, it felt a little unwieldy. * Drinks slosh. Because the drinks are SO snug in the adult tray, if the lid is not solid, they will slosh with the movement of the stroller. The water bottle was fine. The coffee we got after made a bit of a mess (oops!). * Canopy may block visibility. If the canopy is fully out and touching the handlebars (as shown in the product picture), is blocks sight of the front wheel slightly. This would not be a problem in most cases, but when you're dodging ankles, it can be. If you adjust the canopy forward slightly, you can see down through the stroller, over baby's body and so see the wheel again. That's it, though. Overall, this is an EXCELLENT stroller - a great mix of the practical and the helpful - and we are VERY pleased with it. It made it through a 12k race with flying colors and kept baby and parents happy. A 5 star item, for sure. *********************** UPDATE: 6 Months Later *********************** Well, though this stroller is no longer new and shiny, I'll stand by the original 5-star rating as this stroller really gets the job done as promised for an excellent price. A few additional thoughts: * BEST FEATURES: The canopy and handling continue to be the best features. On rough trails throughout semi-icy to dry, to wet conditions, this has kept pace. But it's also such a cushy ride for baby, it really is nice for long, slow walks as well as runs. * WEAR and TEAR: For all the abuse this thing has taken, it really held up. The tires, especially, are doing well, as I said, handling is great, and the materials all are going strong. The light colored plastic, however, does scuff rather easily. Also, with a few cases of putting coffee into the handle rack and not paying attention, we got coffee on it as well. It washed off, but short answer is, this shows dirt as it's so light, and it is looking less shiny and new than when we got it. It still works fine, though, and no rips to report in any of the fabric. Also, we packed this in and out of the car all summer and fall long and it stood up to the use and abuse like a champ. Plus, it packs up and down so nicely, even relatives who had never seen the thing before figured out how to set it up with little to no problem. * ADDITIONAL FEATURES THAT WE LIKE: The ability to lock the swivel wheel is terrific. When it moves, it's much easier to handle. When it's locked, it's easier to jog with. As I took long walks in the mornings with a group of moms and dad took it out jogging in the evenings, it could accommodate mom and dad's styles of travel equally well. * FEATURES I WISH I COULD REDESIGN: ** Undercarriage Bag: The undercarriage bag is so...blah. If you take it off and then don't put it back on exactly in the same way it came off (which is really easy to do, as there are several bars to loop it on and there are no instructions showing where it went), it drags against the front wheel. If you fill it a little too much, it drags against the front wheel. If you put something fairly heavy in it, it drags against the front wheel. The bag is very useful, especially for spare snacks, blankets, coat, etc., so I leave it on most of the time, but I wish it had been designed with slightly more care. InStep, if you ever redesign this for a next generation stroller, please make a better undercarriage bag. * Removable (?) Snack Tray: The snack tray is probably the feature I most want to re-design. I liked it most of the time, my husband did not like it most of the time. When I took baby on walks in the early morning with a group of other moms and kids, it was very useful to be able to pack a snack in the undercarriage and put it out in the snack tray as we rolled along. It meant I could keep my walking appointment without starving the kid or having her drop her food in her lap. However, when my husband went jogging with it in the evenings, he found wind would sometimes come straight up from her legs into her face. He wanted to lay the canopy full forward, but the tray got in the way. He took the tray off (it definitely requires an adult to get the thing off), but that left two metal bars sticking out where the tray goes on. When baby was strapped in, this posed no real danger to baby, but it was unsightly and still got in the way of pushing the canopy down fully. Also, as my girl has gotten older, I wish I could simply unbuckle her and help her climb down from her seat. With the tray on, I have to lift her out. This becomes more problematic as I'm pregnant again now and not really feeling like lifting my heavy little toddler up. What would be perfect is if the tray could come of simply for an adult, not too easily for a kid, and when it's off, it doesn't leave odd hardware behind. If that was incorporated in the next generation of this stroller, it would be perfect. So, long story short: a few features redesigned and this would be THE PERFECT stroller. As it is, I still like it best out of any stroller I've seen (and I've seen quite a few now) and for the price, it hits a perfect note between casual, leisurely walks, a good long trail jog, or anything you might see in-between.