Customer Reviews

Combi Cosmo Dx Stroller Key Lime

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

 

 

I actually have the Merlot version - which is the Fall 2005 complete travel system with matching car seat and base. My doctor' office staff actually recommended the Combi brand to me because of the lightweight infant carrier seat and the matching umbrella stroller with all-round swivel wheels and individual brakes. The Combi car seats come with the base - and it fits into the stroller easily - no special clicks. You just pull up on the red bar behind the seat to release the "vacuum hold" from either the car seat base or the stroller, and lift UP the seat.

Since my son is only 4 months old now, I haven't encountered the safety issue mentioned (about a baby/toddler being able to pedal away from mommy during a shopping trip).

The COMBI strollers aren't for shopping marathons - they are built to be lightweight with "little baskets" for a reason - so you can take your baby here and there without throwing your back out.

** A baby travel system is not a pack-mule.**

My four brothers are over 6 feet tall and they love pushing Jason in his Merlot Combi - they've told me that (1) they wished they had Combi for their children instead of falling for the Graco "SUV"s that they have had to then buy mini-vans to haul or risk a hernia, and (2) because of the ability to use one hand. Moving Jason up the stairs in his Merlot travel system is also a breeze for Jason's parents and grandparents. We have also taken Jason "off-roading" through parks and beaches (sand!) without fuss and muss.

The Combi Stroller folds down to size and takes up very little space in my Focus hatchback - there is enough room back there to haul groceries, and/or stuff from IKEA at the same time. We've also taken the Stroller on planes - and both the airport screeners and flight attendants love the compactness of the Combi.

I have a Lands' End "little tripper" diaper bag that I hang over the handle bar - instead of the big diaper bags that many parents with Graco systems seem to use. My diaper bag holds 3-bottles (1 on each side and 1 inside), 6 diapers, travel packed wipes, travel sized baby toiletries, change of clothes, disposable camera and parents' stuff like wallet, cell phone, keys.

If you cannot fit your diaper bag into a Combi basket or hang your diaper bag across the Combi handle bar - perhaps you are packing more stuff than is needed on your baby's day out.

The COMBI brand competes with the Peg Perego and Bugaboos - and is a much better value - most of us don't make a $1-million/year. Think of the COMBI as Lexus with Peg Perego the BMW/Mercedes Benz and Bugaboo the Bentley - they all stand out in style and ease of use - and spend according to your budget.

JUNE 5, 2007 UPDATE:
My son is now 15 months, 23 pounds and 30 inches. He went from rolling around (spent Christmas week crawling) to RUNNING at 11-months - and this is still the only stroller he would allow himself to be placed in. Most COMBI Strollers hold up to 45 pounds or 4 years old (whichever comes first). Our Merlot Stroller still looks great, even with all the off-roading we have done through parks, beaches, cracked/broken sidewalks, bumpy driveways and people-movers/escalators. The Stroller does have a slight recline which helps when your toddler falls asleep and his head doesn't flop forward. We wipe clean the Stroller once a week and we also use the garden hose on the wheels after a "dirty excursion". As for the wheels not aligning, one trick we use is to straighten the front wheels first and then put the front wheel brakes down - this way, only the back wheels swivel and you can still push your toddler with one hand.

I took this stroller on a trip to Seattle with my 18 month old... I am 5'9 and had no trouble getting used to the wheel width, you usually have to adjust your stride to any new stroller. My daugther and I walked everywhere, it was so lightweight and easy to fold up and then carry with the backstrap. I even took a city bus carrying my daughter in one hand and the stroller over my back, it was great!!!! I got so many compliments on it and my friends are all going to purchase one. It does not have a tray but you can make due. Also the orange and grey is so stylish. I highly reccomend this stroller. Also it folds flat! So it was not a hassle to put in the cab trunk with our luggage.

We inherited a 10 year old "City Savvy" Combi stroller and loved it. It was incredibly light, approx 5 lbs, and manueverable (could be steered with one hand). But after the wheel fell off for the 15th time, we decided to buy a new stroller. I was so happy with our old cloth Combi that I was determined to stick with that brand. I thought the new strollers were quite cute.

Unfortunately, I ended up returning our new Combi after just a few weeks. Full disclosure: our new stroller turned out to be defective, so this obviously colored my opinion, but I think I would have returned it anyway. Why?

The new lightweight strollers are too heavy. They've added a lot of features, but added the lbs as well, defeating the purpose of a lightweight travel stroller that you can just throw in your car, carry up and down the front steps multiple times a day, etc.

The wheels have gone downhill. What used to be nice solid wheels are now those hollow plastic jobs, almost like a toy stroller. They did it to reduce the weight, but they seem flimsy, like they would last a winter of use. Our stroller didn't track straight (granted, it was defective, so who knows...maybe they aren't usually that hard to steer).

The hallmark of the Combi is one-handed steering with the bar. The new bar was so big in circumference, that it made it awkward to hold and steer with one hand.

The nylon fabric is so lightweight that it doesn't hold its shape, i.e. the sun canopy seems to collapse. Granted, our old cloth one wasn't waterproof, etc, but it felt sturdier than this new lightweight nylon.

The reclining mechanism felt flimsy...it is just a cord with a sleeping bag type pull on it.

The seat seemed too narrow.

As you can see, I'm comparing it the my original little Combi, so that might not be fair, but I think the company has tried to add lots of bells and whistles while keeping costs down, and have sacrificed basic engineering and quality.

I bought this stroller one year ago. It has been the 8th stroller I have purchased(no joke)so I've seen a few. I use it nearly every day, along with the occasional use of an 8 year old slightly beat up Graco (still ticking). My motivation (justification) for buying this stroller #8 was that I needed a small stroller capable of reclining enough for baby to sleep (baby was 11 months old then). And it fits those requirements at a rather fair price. I would have given it 4 stars a year ago. BUT, it is rather hard to steer (tracking issues). My 6 and 8 year olds can steer the full sized Graco (same price) just fine but struggle with the Combi. And, as others mention, the basket is teeny. Not big enough for my diaper bag, which isn't huge. The freebie one from the hospital doesn't fit. I hang mine over the handle, but it tends to slip down and then drags on the wheels. A small design change would fix that; just a modest ledge to catch bags on. But of course the manufacturers recommend against hanging anything on the handles anyway. My biggest issue now though is that the 5 point harness is ineffective at restraining my nearly 2 year old. I've tightened and adjusted (with difficulty) the straps but they seem to be very easy to slip out of. Also, another saftey issue is that the back of the seat moves with baby when he leans forward. Not normally a problem, but when baby is leaning WAYYY forward checking out wheels, a bug on the ground, whatever, he is very close to tumbling out. I would have preferred a stroller with a fixed back (adjustable by Mom) that would help keep baby in one place. Also, the size overall is smallish. Quite narrow. My son (almost 2, 25 lbs) fits okay but I can't imagine him in it to 45 lbs. My daughter is 45 lbs and there is simply no way she'd fit unless it was some sort of fell-and-broke-her-arm-at-the-park-emergency.

So overall this stroller gets 3 stars. It's a nice little stroller. I rarely use anything else. Only when I need a big basket or will be pushing long distances or over grassy areas. If you're on baby number one and you plan on having more, I'd recommend a higher end stroller. But if you're getting something new and fresh for the last baby in your life, this is fine, especially if you have a full sized stroller you can use if needed. A fine second stroller, not meant for long outings.

I had orginally ordered the Nautical Palm model of the Combi stroller - the one that cost a little less. It arrived & I could not get the back wheels on the stroller. I emailed Combi to ask what I was doing wrong. Much to my surprise, I recieved a phone call from Combi the next day to see if she could walk me through it. Nothing worked. We decided there was probably a defect. She offered to send me a new stroller. However, we were moving across country (from Alaska to Arkansas) two weeks later. I didn't have time to send the stroller back to Combi & wait for them to send another after they recieved my defective one. She sent me a FedEx label (which I recieved within a couple of days). I returned it directly to Combi. Combi notified Baby Universe they had recieved my stroller; so, they could refund my money. (Getting it back from Baby Universe took a little longer - like 6 weeks. After emailing them to find out why I had not recieved my refund, it appeared in my bank account the next day. Amazing!) Anyway, I went ahead & ordered the Key Lime Combi stroller from Amazon before we moved. It came within days. I love it! It's compact & lightweight. Very easy to fold & unfold. I love the carrying strap! I had to travel separtely from my husband. I had no problems getting the stroller in & out of the airplane & around the airport with my 6 week old. I still love it. I get lots of compliments on it. People love the color & style - always getting asked where I got it. I have the carseat as well. I love it too. It's slimmer than many other models & I can better fit all 3 kids in the back seat! I would totally recommend the Combi stroller & car seat!

I have been using this stroller for the last 6 months.This is nice and my son loves it.The seat is comfortable and the stroller has also sufficient leg space. I can recline it easily for my son to take a quick nap.
The small window at the top lets you see inside and my son can check who is pushing the stroller. He prefers his mom to do that though.
The stroller packs up nicely and take very little space and is really light and portable.
The cup holder is also handy.
The two drawbacks are -
1)the wheels somehow gets locked and turning is not very convenient
2)the boot space is very less
The shipping was fast and customer service prompt. Overall its a good one at the price

I bought this stroller after reading, what seemed like, a zillion reviews on this and others like it. I was concerned about what I noticed as a recurring complaint... the fact that some people hit their feet into the back wheels as they walked. One person said that she just adjusted her stride and it was fine. Well, she was right. That wasn't a problem. I'm 5'4" and I noticed that people mentioned their height when talking about that problem. My only complaint---which really is just an observation since I use a backpack to haul stuff around---is that the basket is really small, especially with the bar through the middle. The fact that it is sooooo lightweight, easy to manuever through airports and stores, and so compact when folded up makes the size of the basket not an issue with me. It would be hard to have it any bigger and keep the stroller so small. One last comment...the color ( lime and gray) is really cool. They even have an orangey color called mango.

I loved this stroller the first couple of time that I used it. It folds up really easily and compact. You can carry it on your shoulder like a backpack when folded up. It is super lightweightand very durable. The storage basket underneath could be bigger but it works. My daughter finds it to be very comfortable as well. The only thing that I don't like about it is that my daughter figured out that the back part that she leans her back against is not attached to the stroller. It is hard to explain you would have to see it for yourself. You can lay the seat down so they can take a nap. It is operated by a drawstring so it is attached but if she leans forward all of the way and then scoots her body forward she can touch her feet to the floor even when in the 5 point harness. If the stroller is not on lock she will pedal herself away which I feel is a saftey hazard. She thinks that it is fun when I am trying to shop and she keeps trying to pedal herself down the isle. Very frustrating!!!

The best thing about this stroller is the weight. It's really light. That leads to other problems, though; like, it's fairly flimsy. My eight-month old can pull the entire seat forward when he's strapped in, just by sitting up. The storage basket underneath, like many other reviews have mentioned, holds very little, is almost inaccessible if a child is in the stroller, and has a bar running through the middle of it anyway. The wheels also have a lot of trouble tracking, especially inside stores where the surface is smoother. If you're tall, you'll kick the wheels when walking.
We bought it because it was cheap and light, but we're having to spend more money now to upgrade because it just doesn't do the job. If you use your stroller a lot, buy a better one.

great seller. product was perfect and delivered in a timely manner. definately reccomend