Yesterday I logged on the to the Babies R Us site to write a five star review for the Caboose Stroller. We absolutly love this stroller. I was shocked to see the recent one star reveiews that have been posted in the last few weeks. So I took the reviewers advice and visited the local Target. Here is what I found:
1. From Handle to tray front the Caboose is 11 inches shorter. The shorter wheelbase makes for much easier steering.
2. The Caboose has a higher handle height for the parent. It also has the same deluxe foam handles that the $800 Bugaboo has. The child handles have the same deluxe foam. The infant carseat attachment is even covered in the deluxe foam.
3. One reviewer mentioned that the Caboose is square tubing and not all accessories fit, but square tubing is far stronger than round or oval tubing. It also looks cool. The frame is very rigid and strong.
4. When folded the Caboose is half as tall 12 inches, the other one is 24 inches. The caboose tray and canopy nest perfectly when folded. The Baby Trend is 28 inches tall when folded if the canopy is left on. The Baby Trend tray also slams into the floor when the stroller is folded. The Caboose has a metal folding lock, the Baby Trend has a plastic one.
5. The Caboose canopy is much bigger and has canopy locks on each side.
6. The harness buckles on the Caboose are deluxe with light reflective straps. This is a good comparison of the quality of the strollers. The Caboose has a light reflective harness that has at least 3X more light reflective materail. The Baby Trend harnesses are very difficult to operate and can pinch. Research other Baby Trend product reviews and you will see this problem is already documented. The five point harness on the Caboose has two shoulder height positions. One of the positions is completely above the seat back height of the Baby Trend stroller. That is the reason that it appears that there is more room on the Baby Trend rear seat. The Baby Trend front seat back is so low there is no head support for the front child.
7. I checked the warranties on both products. The Caboose has a lifetime and the Baby Trend 180 days.
8. The parent tray on the Baby Trend I looked at was already broken. The push button on the side of the tray that releases it to rotate had fallen out and the tray could not be locked in place.
9. The Caboose infant car seat attachment is compatable with many more car seats. It will take the Chicco, Britax, Compass, Graco, Evenflo and Peg seats. The Baby Trend will not accept many of the new carseats on the market.
10. The fabric on the Caboose is rip-stop 600D nylon. This is the same fabric back packs and luggage use for it's durability. The Baby Trend is a light weight poly/cotton.
If you really look close there is really no comparison of the quality of these two products. The Caboose is a better engineered product and each important component is better quality than the Baby Trend. As I walked out of the Target with my Caboose the lady working in the juvenile department asked me where I got my cool stroller.