Customer Reviews

Bumbleride Flyer Reversible Handle Stroller with 7" Wheels, Seagrass

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Buying a stroller is scarily similar to buying a car... it took a lot of research and comparison shopping before I settled on the Bumbleride Flyer. I am totally thrilled with the purchase! The things I like about the stroller are NUMEROUS and include the following:

- The direction of the stroller may be reversed easily simply by flipping the handlebars over and adjusting two bars near the wheels (you do not have to pick up the seat itself and turn it around as with many other strollers);
- The seat adjusts from a close-to-90-degree angle to almost flat;
- There is a footrest that adjusts to a few different positions, so your child's legs don't just dangle in the air;
- The canopy is BIG, and a portion zips off to provide air flow on hot days;
- The handle is a single bar, so it's easier to steer with one hand;
- A rain cover, cup holder, and infant seat adapter come standard with the stroller, and options include a "snack pack" that attaches to the seat, car seat cover (seems silly though!), foot muff/liner, and carrycot;
- The infant seat adapter bar attaches directly onto the stroller without requiring removal of the seat;
- The five-point harness releases when you press a single button;
- The stroller has a relatively small footprint and weighs only 19 pounds, which is quite a bit lighter than most other full-size strollers; and
- The fold is not too difficult (though not super-easy), and when folded, the stroller can stand upright (though it is kept in its folding position by a plastic clasp that may or may not stand up under repeated use).

In my opinion, the only real drawback to this stroller is that it does not have air-filled wheels; however, it was not intended to be an all-terrain stroller, and air-filled wheels would have added a lot of weight. Oh, and it would have been nice if a custom travel bag were available, but Bumbleride has identified a third-party product that will work. So overall I am very satisfied. I understand that there were a lot of issues with respect to steering the 2008 version of the stroller, but I have not experienced any problems at all with the 2009 version.

I got the stroller in the ruby color, which is a lovely deep red (in my opinion even deeper than in the photo). I was going to go with the seagrass color but when I saw it in a store, the green was a little olive-y and the turquoise was a little too light for my taste. All in all, I am extremely pleased with this stroller, which has a TON of terrific features for half the price of many comparable strollers.

This is my second stroller for my first child. The other is a jogging stroller that I use for walking the dogs and rough outside riding. It's just too bulky for "regular" use.

I decided I wanted a few specific things: lighter weight than what I had, a reversible handlebar, a good size canopy. The lighter weight was easy; replacing pneumatic wheels with plastic wheels eliminated 10 pounds immediately. The handlebar was a challenge. Only 3 strollers are made with that feature. I could only find 2 in stores locally and one of them was $800. So the Flyer was kind of it.

It takes two hands to open and close. I don't mind but some of you might. The footrest has 2 releases which is odd but not inconvenient. Same thing for reversing the handlebar. There are breaks on all four wheels so you can break easily in the forward or reverse positions. There are releases on both sides so you can fix the wheels depending on which direction you have the handlebar. this is my one "complaint". With the handlebar in the reverse position (child is facing you) the wheels have a bit of a wobble when backing up or making a u-turn, almost to the point of getting stuck. It's easy enough to get around: make a wider turn or pick up the front a bit. Mostly it's just annoying.

This stroller doesn't have a child tray. There is a "snack pack" you can purchase separately which I have not done yet (my son is 4 months). There is a single parent cup holder that hangs off the side of the handlebar. The storage space underneath is very nice.

We've had this stroller for just over a year and love it. We originally wanted the Bugaboo for the switch around handle, but couldn't justify spending that much money on a stroller. The Bumbleride handle switches around so the baby can face us or face out - for a third the cost of the Bugaboo. Plus, the Bugaboo folds in two pieces, but the Bumbleride is all one piece. Since the back folds flat and the footrest folds up, it turns into a pram, which was very useful when our son was an infant. We actually used it on vacation in place of a bassinet. Switching forward-facing to backward-facing is quick and easy, and the handle goes from very short (so my toddler can help push) to very tall. The ride is a little more cumbersome with the baby facing the parent - you have to take shorter strides or bump the stroller. Now that our son is older - we find that there are lots of places to hook toys on to to keep him amused. Its easy to push, set up, and affordable. I highly recommend this stroller.

After reading a couple of the poorly written reviews on this stroller, I feel the need to defend it!
We have owned our 2006 Bumbleride Flyer for almost two years now...we bought it on sale for around $240 in the beginning of 2007. We have had a few problems with it but overall we feel that it has been a great stroller for the price we paid.
PROS:
-Big, sturdy stroller. Very comfortable for our son.
-For the size, this stroller is fairly lightweight.
-Beautiful colors and design.
-Decent sized storage basket
-Awesome adjustable handle, accomodates a person of ANY height.
-Easy to fold down and open up.
-Enormous canopy! You can even fold it down to the lap bar for complete coverage (except when baby is fully reclined).
-They include the footmuff and the carseat adaptor so you save some $$$.
-The foot rest is adjustable so if your baby or toddler is sleeping you can lift it up to be parallel with the seat to creat a flat surface, which is a great feature that I use alot!
-Multiple reclining positions, and easy to recline-you just squeeze a thin metal bar on the back of the seat and lift up or let down.
CONS:
-This stroller was designed to be able to face either direction, but here is where it is truly lacking. If this is a main reason you are considering buying this stroller, look elsewhere. It simply doesn't work, unless you remove the storage basket and if you are not planning on steering the stroller at all while you walk. It is extremely hard to maneuver in the "baby faces mommy" mode, and the basket rubs on the wheels creating a very annoying sound!
-The cupholder is useless. It gets caught on things and my water bottle was always falling out of it so I ended up tossing it.
-This stroller is noisy. Squeaky and rickety. It doesn't bother me very much, but I still see it as a negative.
-There is no snack or cup holder for the little one, which is a little inconvenient.
-When baby is fully reclined, it is super hard to get things in and out of the storage basket.

If you are looking for a full-sized stroller that is aesthetically pleasing, comfortable, sturdy, and lightweight, this is the stroller for you!

I live in NYC and everyone told me to buy a Maclaren. I was a little blah about the colors and look of the Maclarens but I was not about to spend a fortune on a bugaboo or something like it. I was attracted to the Bumbleride mainly for the reversible handlebar feature. It was very important to me that the baby could face me. I loved the colors and patterns and the fact that it reclined all the way flat plus the hood could be lowered to shield the baby. BUT....I got the stroller, went outside, very excited and got only one block. There was an uneven sidewalk and I could not get the stroller over the crack!! If you live in an urban environment you know there is no avoiding a sidewalk crack. It was so heavy and ackward to lift that I went home. I have one step up to my building. After having to lift it again I was so frustrated I had to return the stroller. I watched my girlfriend easily lift and maneuver her Maclaren I decided to just bite the bullet and get the drab Maclaren. It is so much easier and city friendly I am happy I did. The Bumbleride stroller is good for a mall walker or suburban moms. Maybe if I had a doorman and elevator but a big fat no for a walk up.

We love the Flyer! It does everything we were looking for in a stroller. Easy to use around town, toss in the car, adjustable handle, reversible handle. It even comes with all the accessories like cup holder and car seat bar with belt.

We bought it 6 months ago and it is working as good as the day we got it.
Our little one loves to sleep in it and loves to go on walks in it. If you want a stroller that works great and looks different than all the rest buy a bumbleride!

Only cons are that some maintenance (cleaning)is required here and there but all strollers need this.

Great price, great quality stroller, durable, modern, looks better than the rest!

We bought the Bumbleride Flyer in 2008 for a number of key reasons:
- we liked the look of it
- we wanted a stroller that would be suitable from birth (lie flat option)
- we wanted to be able to have the baby facing us
- we wanted a one-piece stroller

The Bumbleride Flyer was just what we were looking for - or so we thought. We have owned this stroller for 9 months now and are looking to change it. It is difficult to maneuver at the best of times but when the baby is facing you, the stroller is almost impossible to push. It doesn't steer well and will not go up over the pavement/sidewalk when crossing the road (in baby facing you mode). It is OK when baby is facing out, but not great. It isn't as easy to turn and doesn't feel light when pushing it. I love to go out for walks but the Bumbleride Flyer makes this hard work. Even walking around stores/shops, this is hard work.

The Bumbleride certainly gets lots of attention for it's looks and we have loved the lie flat position for when our baby was newborn. It is easy enough to fold but the lock doesn't stay in place so it is hard to pick up and store as it keeps opening.

The price is certainly reasonable but I really can't recommend the 2008 Flyer. It looks like Bumbleride have made a number of key changes for the 2009 model so it ought to be better. They acknowledge the problem with the wheels so have made improvements. Just make sure you try out the model before you buy it. Take it outside the shop (a lot of shops offer this but we didn't take them up on it as we thought it would be ok) and try to push it up and down a pavement in both settings.

For us, the Bumbleride Indie 2009 looks better and when we tried it in the shop it seemed SO much easier to push.

I've had the 2009 Flyer in Seagrass for about a week now and I absolutely love it! I love the reversible handle feature which is so easy and quick to switch. It feels very light to push and manuvers very well as long as you lock the wheels correctly (back wheels locked/front wheels unlocked) when you change the handle back and forth. I know past reviews of older models mention manuverability problems but the 2009 as far as I can tell is a big improvement there. My son loves sitting in the stroller, especially facing me, it makes him smile and is especially handy when he falls asleep or if its windy or rainy. The canopy is awesome, very large and covers my son completely. The basket is nice and large and can be accessed fromt the back and from the sides for smaller items. I love the adjustable foot rest. One small issue is that the fold is a bit cumbersome (you have to get used to it), you have to lower the backrest all the way down before folding the stroller and you definitely need two hands to fold it. I do like that it automatically locks when folded. Its not the most compact of folds but I wasn't expecting it to be. It fits nicely in the back of our SUV. I love the Seagrass color very much. Overall the flyer is very stylish and fun to push around and is just what I wanted it to be. I haven't done any offroading with it yet so I can't say how it would do in that situation, but on the street and shopping and on sidewalks its great. A couple minor things...The parent cup holder is great and is easily reversible when you switch the handle. I wish there was a child cup holder as well, but thats not a deal breaker for me. I did have a small problem with the pad on the harness (at the crotch) falling off whenever the harness is unlocked so I just removed it. I also wish it came with a car seat adapter bar...you have to buy that separately. But it lays back absolutely flat and with the footrest up, could be used for infants very nicely.

After a great deal of research, I finally selected this stroller for my 2nd child a few months ago. For my first, I had an Inglesina Zippy which I loved for its easy compact fold, sturdiness and its light weight. but I always hated that I couldn't face my child unless I had him in his carseat in the stroller. So I found the the Flyer which I am so far pretty happy with. It's great because it is reversible. It's not like the bugaboo where you remove the seat, turn it around and then put it back. Here, you simply reverse the handle, lock and unlock the front and back wheels and you're off. The colors are great, it rides smoothly, it accepts most car seats, it has a very large and generous canopy, it comes with a boot and cupholder and it is reasonably priced compared to other reversible strollers costing $500 and more. I've read reviews from others who say the stroller is horrible becuase you can't steer it with one hand. That only happens if you don't lock the wheels properly. If you lock the rear wheels of the stroller (which varies depending on if you are using it forward or reverse facing)they won't swivel and you won't have that problem. The cons of this stroller are that depending on the direction with which you use the stroller, the basket underneath rubs against the wheels if you're not careful with what you put in it. Also, it does not fold as nearly as compactly as I would like which makes it a bit cumbersome. But other than that it is a great overall stroller and I am very happy with my purchase.

I love this stroller. I've now had it for about 5 months and traveled with it.

Whats Great:
The canopy. I live in Las Vegas and it has great coverage

The reversible handle: Once he graduated from the car seat on the universal frame I found that about half the time he did not like facing the world. He wanted the security of watching mommy. The sometimes he was looking around trying to take in everything. the reversible handle is a snap to change to suit his moods and helps extend stroller time at a mall. I have had no problem steering in forward or reverse. I just love it and wouldn't want to have to turn the seat around to accomodatte.

Steering is excellent. one handed even when loaded down with bags.

Speaking of heavy I have fully packed the basket and have had a lot of shopping bags hanging off a mommy hook and it has not has not been tippy.

The adjustable handle is nice (one position for 6" tall hubby and one for 5'2" me). he hasn't had trouble kicking the stroller while pushing it.

Its lighter than most full sized stroller and a smaller fold (19 lbs and 12H x 21W x 35L).

Super easy full recline. One handed handle you grab and raise or drop. If you adjust the footrest up and the recline down you almost have a pram/carraige style. Baby boy has a much more comfy sleep that way.

Cons:
Not as modern looking as other premium strollers though not as expensive either.

Basket is too small!!!! Though I can get my diaper dude diaper bag in it even when stuffed, there's only room for an a couple additional bags with small purchases in it.



For under $400 this is a fantastic stroller. Other than style it has the functionality of many premium strollers. It has full size stroller features in an almost lightweight package.

I highly recommend this stroller.