Customer Reviews

Maclaren Triumph Stroller, Charcoal/Silver

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is our 6th stroller (my daughter is now 10 months old), and I think we've finally found the one that works for us. We've had it for two months now, and are very happy with it. We currently keep it in the trunk of our car and use it for errands, excursions, and plane travel.

Pros:

*Lightweight (approximately 11.5 lbs with canopy & shopping basket): the only lighter stroller that also reclines is the Uppababy G-luxe, which also weighs about 11 lbs. The shoulder carry strap is a nice feature and makes it simple to transport the stroller up/down flights of stairs or on walks if your child decides to walk or wants to be carried.

*Strap recline (as opposed to other reclining Maclaren strollers, which use a fiddly system of two levers that have to be operated simultaneously, and block access to the basket). The strap recline on the Maclaren Triumph can be operated one-handed.

*Great steering. Even weighed down by a 20 lb child and 15-20 lbs of groceries, the stroller can be pushed one-handed. I have even pushed it one-handed while going over curbs (although it is of course easier with two hands)

*Easy, compact fold. To fold, you pull up on the carry strap (or kick up on the bottom of the carry strap attachment), step on a small lever, and push the handles forward so the whole stroller clicks together. It is very simple to do while holding your child, or while holding a bag of groceries.

*Accessible, decently sized shopping basket. While it isn't huge, this is an umbrella stroller so that's to be expected. I can fit two full grocery bags in the basket, and because it's supported by two metal bars the contents never drag on the ground.

Cons:

*Tips easily if heavy diaper bags, etc are hung from the handlebars. As I mentioned above, this is our 6th stroller, and I've had a chance to compare this feature with several other brands and models of stroller. If you hang a diaper bag or grocery bag on the handles and your child then gets out of the stroller, the Maclaren Triumph WILL tip over. However, we've found that if we remember to put the heavier items (e.g. a gallon of milk, the library books) in the basket, the stroller is not as tippy.

*Fairly ineffective canopy. The sunshade is not very large, and cannot be pulled forward so that it blocks the sun from any angle other than directly behind the stroller pusher. Several other companies manufacture strollers with canopies that can be rotated forward to block the sun, and it would have been nice to have this feature.

*Can't handle very rough terrain. We use it on brick, pavement, hard-packed dirt, and grass, and the only place we've found it really doesn't do well is on gravel or sand. However, this is not intended to be an all-terrain stroller, so this isn't really a con, more just a comment. I don't think many strollers aside from a large-wheeled jogging stroller will be able to handle gravel or sand.

Overall, this is a great stroller that maneuvers well in crowded places (malls, stores, zoo, etc) and does very nicely for neighborhood walks.

In my opinion, this is the best buy for your money of all the Maclaren strollers not designed for newborns. Comparing the Triumph to the other Maclaren models: we previously had a Maclaren Quest, and have tried out a Maclaren Volo, and prefer the Triumph to either of those models. The Quest only offers two improvements over the Triumph: (1) a plastic peek-a-boo window in the sunshade which seemed totally useless due to the location on the back of the hood. Unless you are under 5 feet tall, you will not be able to see through this window to look at your child, and you will have to look around the side of the canopy anyways. (2) An extendable footrest. Our daughter did seem to like the footrest, but she didn't seem to mind NOT having it, and is just as happy for just as long in the Triumph. More importantly for us, the Triumph uses a different recline mechanism and allows for easier access to the shopping basket. On the Quest, the shopping basket is almost useless because it is so hard to access. In the other direction, the Triumph seems worth the extra money over the Volo because of the reclining feature, the slightly larger wheels (which make for a smoother ride), and the more rigid seat back (which seems to allow my daughter to be more comfortable).

I've had a Triumph for nearly three years and I love this stroller. I travel frequently with just myself and my kids, and nothing folds up as easily and quickly. I also live in an urban area, so I love that I can fold this up and strap it over my shoulder for an unexpected staircase or to get on and off public transportation. I've used it in airports, malls, Disneyland, zoos, cities, everywhere. It also fits in any car I've ever tried to squeeze it into--even on the floor behind the front seats, for when the trunk is all loaded up for a road trip.

It does have a small basket, but that's never bothered me because I know that's a trade-off for having a lightweight, easily compactible stroller. My only complaint (and this may be a factor on all umbrella strollers, but I've only used the Maclaren) is that when it folds up, the front wheels rub on the stroller shade and get it all dusty. Not a big problem, but the inside of my shade is black so it shows and always looks dirty. If I had known that before, I simply would have bought a different color stroller with a lighter shade. So I still give it five stars for quality, portability, and usefulness.

I debated which stroller to buy via online reviews and decided to just go to a big box store and take a look at them. The store only carried Maclaren, Jeep and Chicco (no UPPAbaby or Britax). Here is what I found:

I looked at the Maclaren Quest, Triumph and Volor, Jeep Reclining Umbrella, Chicco C6. I narrowed it down to the Quest and Triumph and ultimately picked the Triumph based on color =)

Maclaren Quest Sport Stroller, Coffee/Sky Blue
Maclaren Triumph Stroller, Charcoal/Silver
Maclaren Quest and Triumph: Very similar to each other, differences noted here. Both reclines to same spot, Quest only has two positions, Triumph can be reclined to any position between fully upright and fully reclined. That said it doesn't recline all that much. The two positions on the Quest would be sufficient. My four month old (13lbs) fits fine in either stroller. I did add a padded headrest (the ones they sell for car seats) just to make her a little more secure. The stroller still folds up with the headrest in it. The Quest has an extended foot pad. It will keep wind, etc... off babies legs once they are long enough to hang off. The actual seat size isn't any different. The big functional difference between the two is that the Quest had a pocket on the canopy (between the handles). The pocket is large enough to hold a wallet, cell phone and keys (not much else). Has a velcro closure. Quest also has a couple of small side pockets - not sure what you would put in them though. You can buy stroller organizers for $20 that will attach to the Truimph which include zipper pockets and cup holders.

Maclaren Volo Stroller, Black
Maclaren Volo: Is 2 lbs lighter than Quest and Triumph. The thin mesh seat made me nervous about how well it would hold up and that it would be too cold for baby on slightly chilly days. Also doesn't recline. For $30 more I thought it was worth the recline feature and slightly heavier/cushier seat. The weight savings didn't seem all that significant over the Triumph or Quest.

Jeep All-Weather Reclining Umbrella Stroller, Pink
Jeep Umbrella Stroller: Just felt junky and not well made.

Chicco Ct0.6 Capri Lightweight Stroller, Tangerine
Chicco: Felt relatively high quality but at 5'7" I kicked the wheels while walking. Wouldn't be able to stand that. The blue and black are cute but the orange is hideous and I love orange. It is a very bright almost neon orange. Nice that is comes with a carrying bag.

Wish I could have looked at a Britax and UPPAbaby but I liked the Maclaren so much that I decided to just go with it!
UPPAbaby G-Lite Stroller, Jake
UPPAbaby G-Luxe Stroller, Denny
Britax B-Nimble Stroller, Cowmooflage

This is a great stroller. It handles like perfection, is made of very high quality materials, and it is small and light, enabling us to do things we felt obnoxious doing with our huge stroller, like dining out and riding on public transit. We have run all over the city in this and our 5 month old had so much fun and was very comfortable. We will get lots of use out of this little number for a long time.

We got the purple color, which is a gourgeous rich and pretty eggplant shade. It has the factory installed hinge covers for protection to adress past problems, which are fabric flaps. It also comes with a rain cover. The brakes and collapsing frame are very easy to work with, and it is simple and easy to fold. The recline is rudementary and easy; just a strap on the back. It does not recline back very far but still seems comfortable for baby.

If I could change two things, it would be the basket and sunshade. The basket is almost inaccessible because it sits high under the seat and is obstructed by the bar. Because of this, we have to use a smaller stroller bag and hang it from the back, which we find we prefer actually. I would also like it if the sunshade had twice the fabric that it currently has, or had an extra flap tucked under the main hood. It offers some protection from the sun, but only from very few angles and at almost no time are baby's feet protected. That said, we still like it and would purchase it again because of its quality and great ease of use.

I have an older Maclaren and the quality of the new model is not worth the price. Clip in the back broke in the first month and only option they gave me was to send back to service center also shade ripped because it gets caught on a uneven screw when it folds down

I read all the previous reviews and agree with most of them. Overall this product is good and serves its exact purpose...It is a light weight stroller that is easy to carry around and fold, you can push with one hand, and it is still comfortable for my son. There are 2 down sides: it is so light weight that if you have too many bags hanging off the handles it will tip over, there is not enough sun coverage from the canopy. It does come with a nice rain shield which is a nice bonus.

This is a very stylish stroller and is made very well. It is also easy to put together, easy to use, easy to fold up, easy to steer and overall it works great!

BUT the storage underneath is basically useless. The only way you can really get to it is by pushing up the seat of the chair and nearly dumping out your baby! It is also very small- so my diaper bag won't fit in it anyways. However, knowing that it is an umbrella stroller and it is only used for short trips it does its job perfectly and I just hang my bag(s) on the back handles.

We bought it because we live in a historic area where door frames are too small for my UppaBaby stroller to fit through. If you are buying this as your only stroller you may need (A) a very small diaper bag! -or- (B) to have another option for your bags. JL Childress sells extra cargo-net bags that can attach. Or I have a heart shaped hook from Babies R Us that carries extra bags as well.

Still a great stroller though!

We bought this to use occasionally for our 4 year old. We had a Jeep $40 umbrella stroller which fell apart after a while and wanted something more durable. We chose this since it was one of the few strollers designed for older/ larger kids and figured we could still get decent use out of it. It was such a nice upgrade - very lightweight, easy to fold, fits larger kids well. We had our second son and had to go back to using our full-recline heavy stroller for a little while, but now he is 6 months old and we are back to using this one. We used it for a long-distance international trip and it was near perfect. We can put our 6 month old in OR our 4 year old and they are both happy in the stroller. It is lightweight but still reclines. It is also great for feeding an infant when you are traveling in the airport and don't have any high chairs around. This color grey is very modern looking and it is a beautiful stroller as well. I would love to give this 5 stars but they need to improve the canopy so you can better shade your child when out in the sun. Also the canopy gets dirty as the wheels fold into it and I find it irritating that at some point I'll probably have to wash it down. If Maclaren could fix those 2 aspects in the next model it would be the perfect umbrella stroller!

We bought this stroller as we were trying to find a good stroller to take to Italy with us in September. Our son was 5 months old at the time. Being that we would be doing a lot of walking, we wanted to get something somewhat smaller, would do well on cobblestone and narrow streets and would travel well. This stroller did really well AND it came with the rain cover so no need to purchase that separately. We would have to transfer our son to the Baby Bjorn when we were in areas that the stroller didn't travel well on, but luckily the stroller was light enough and came with a strap that whoever wasn't carrying the baby could carry the stroller. I would definitely recommend purchasing the organizer for the back as there is not much storage on this stroller and it's very helpful!

Just wanted to share how much I love this stroller! I have another stroller that was less expensive and while it does the job it is very uncomfortable to push around and offers little in the way of handling and maneuverability. A friend of mine recommended the Maclaren but I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money for an umbrella stroller but then I tried the Maclaren while visiting friends and was completely convinced. It was a complete 180 from my other stroller. My favorite feature is the luxury of pushing it with one hand- sometimes I do it just because I can!
Like I said, it's great, I am so happy with it, and my daughter enjoys it too. She always seems very comfortable when she's in it and has never had any problems nodding off when she feels the need.
I don't have an issue with the wheels touching the hood and leaving dust and I don't find it any more difficult to fold up than any other stroller.