Absolutely Delightful

I recently recognized and admitted that I have become a Bumbleride Addict. Before I had kids, the addiction was limited to shoes. Oh, how I love cute shoes! It’s actually quite a ridiculous addiction for me to have now that I am a San Diego SAHM and I really just mostly wear flip flops…but I do enjoy gazing upon my fantastic and somewhat dusty collection of fabulous shoes. Once I had my first child, my stash expanded into baby carriers. And then, of course, there is, my much beloved stroller collection…

I do appreciate a beautiful and functional stroller. You know how a guy’s head turns when a gorgeous girl walks past? Well, that’s me with strollers. Oh yeah. I’ve practically given myself whiplash on more than one occassion, when a sweet ride has caught my eye. I’ve even gone out of my way to do a stroller “drive by” to find out the brand. I am helpless when confronted with a particularly sharp-turning swivel wheel or a blissfully easy one-handed fold. I’m a sucker for sleek lines. I am paralyzed by beautiful fabric. I am a complete basket-case over a big and accessible basket (tee hee, get it?). I swoon over an adjustable handlebar. And I am rendered positively powerless by a ride so smooth you can steer with one hand. These are just some of the many wonderful characteristics of the Adonis that is the Bumbleride.

My collection currently consists of three strollers. My favorite: The Bumbleride Indie Twin; My first: The Chicco Cortina (travel system); and My Jogger: The Bob SUS. I used to L-O-V-E my Bob but now that Bumbleride has entered my life, Bob has sadly become the proverbial red-headed step-child. For the record, lest I offend anyone, I love red-heads and I am partial to step-children, as I was one…more than once. Anyways, now I think I want a Bumbleride Indie to replace my Bob SUS stroller. I’m always surprised and somewhat impressed that families can get away with owning just one stroller, but with Bumbleride I almost get it.

I’ve received a lot of emails and questions about my Bumbleride posts, Hi My Name is J and I’m a Bumbleride Addict and Bumbleride Solves Double Stroller Dilemma. Choosing a stroller is serious business. A stroller is a vehicle for your most precious cargo and so we Moms need something that is going to be safe. Also, a stroller helps us get from point A to point B and get our seemingly endless mountain of tasks accomplished (hopefully). The Kingdom of Mom is full of enough obstacles and road-blocks; we don’t need our stroller making things more difficult, rather we need it to be super functional and help (or at least not hinder) us as we go about our daily business. Sounds like I put a hefty role on my stroller, doesn’t it? Indeed I do. Kids have a mind of their own and give us enough grief that I don’t need my stroller to be of the same beast. A stroller must be tame and help me navigate through my day without making me crazy in the head. Some strollers are so awful and so horribly annoying that I’d rather just do without and carry both kids. And my many bags of groceries. While I walk 3 miles. In the snow. And poke my eyes out. Get the picture?

Seriously though, I spend so much time with a stroller that I need to “love the one I’m with”. Fortunately, I don’t personally own any strollers that make me want to poke my eyes out but I am becoming disenchanted with my Bob SUS. There isn’t anything super wrong with it. I just fell madly in love with my Bumbleride Indie Twin and all it’s features that I didn’t know I was missing before. So, now I am looking squarely in the face of an adulterous love affair with the Bumbleride Indie. Sorry Bob. It’s not you, it’s me. I met someone else. I didn’t mean for it to happen.

Okay, so anyways, to the grit of this post. Momma’s, you asked lots of questions and I will attempt to answer them. I too was curious about the changes to the 2010 model – specifically, how the 2010 Indie differs from the 2009 (I have the 2009 Indie Twin). I did some due diligence and this is what I’ve been able to determine:

Some nice changes have been made to both the 2010 Indie and Indie Twin strollers. First, Bumbleride has brought back the bumper bar. This time, however it is a multi-purpose, adjustable bar and the cover can be removed to use it as a universal infant seat adapter bar. It can also be used to attach the snack tray fabric which is sold as a separate accessory. I’m not sure that I understand Bumbleride’s snack pack. Why is it fabric? Kind of knarly. However, people seem to love it so maybe I’m missing something? Anyways, the 2010 line also comes with a $20 price increase but this seems really minimal and reasonable to me when you consider that the bumper bar is now included (it was an optional accessory for 2009). I absolutely love that Bumbleride doesn’t make you pay extra for the infant car seat adapter (like some other companies do). They win huge points from me on that one. Another change to the 2010 model is that the handlebar adjustment mechanism has been moved to the inside of the handle to make it more ergonomically easy to adjust. Also, the peek-a-boo window on the top of the stroller canopy has been changed from plastic to UV mesh. Lastly, Bumbleride has made the canopy even larger so that it now provides an additional 9 inches of sun protection. Plus, the canopy can now fold forward more and goes all the way down to the bumper bar!

Based on these changes, Bumbleride must take their customer feedback very seriously. The newly improved 2010 line makes me swoon over the Indie even more than before.