Saturday, January 1, 2011 Peg Perego Aria Twin Stroller Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)ahhhh where do I begin.I had such high hopes for this one.

Instead of this stroller, get the bumbleride twin if you can afford it (it's totally thin enough, don't worry :), or the joovy ergo (if you have a child willing to sit/stand).Here's my review of the aria twin 2010......
- SHADE: the canopies look useless in the photo but they're actually nice & come all the way down to the tray.They don't go beyond the tray like the bumbleride twin, they go down to the side of the tray closer to the child.I don't know why they don't show that in the photos.the only thing is that they don't go 'out' far enough so when you pull it down all the way it goes right in front of their face.Kids don't like that.my kids duck their heads forward to the outside of the shade (does this make sense?like, the kids' faces are forward overtop of the tray b/c if they sat back the shade would be right in front of their faces.so I guess in that way the shade is useless.Oh, and the kids' legs are exposed.

- TRAY: the trays are easily removed and put back - just a button (not the same as the pliko p3 but similar).But there's a downside... (and this is a big but) ...The tray for the "40" seat is 1 inch wide.seriously. it's ~10 inches long and approximately 1 inch wide.(1 inch deep too). so if you line up 10 triscuits, that's the width and length of the indentation in the tray.I'm not kidding or exxagerating.no cup holder.the other tray (for the '60' seat is about 2 inches wide and has two tiny round sections for a cup on each end.really?do you think the older kid will let the younger kid put his cup on their tray?let me answer that for you.no.so the trays are there which is a plus, but the design is the worst I've seen.

- SEATS:seats are straight up & down which I LOVE.My kids don't like it when they can't sit straight up & down.(they do recline.they also fit big kids.with a 4year old & a 2 year old the seats were plenty big enough.

- MANEUVERABILITY:I was hoping to be able to turn it & push it with my pinky finger (like i can with my bob revolution or my bumbleride twin).nope.can't.it's fairly good steering & turning fully loaded but you still have to use 2 hands....and it has that catch up where the front wheels point in one direction and you want to go in the other direction, you have to reverse it & then push it forward.(happens with all strollers with double wheels in front).I had test driven the 2009 version & it pulled to one side horribly (whichever side had the heavier kid).This one doesn't. the 2010 model goes straight ahead.The scary part is that when you turn it, you can feel the whole frame twist like it's going to break.you can totally tell you're pushing a flimsy plastic stroller,(the frame is made of flimsy plastic, unlike the bob strollers or bumbleride or joovy ergo)

- COLORS:the one that looks beautiful blue and brown is not.it is this ugly gray stripe material and brown.there is absolutely no blue on it anywhere.it is very ugly.I mean very very ugly. it would've been pretty with blue & brown but they went with gray and brown which I wouldn't wear together if I were picking out clothes.and the gray is gray stripes.u.g.l.y.

- FIGHTING:there is no divider between the kids so they fight & have full access to eachother.Did I mention that the '60' kid has to share their extra cupholder with the '40' kid? not condusive to peace.

- DOORWAYS:it fits through a door but I definitely would not take this thing to the mall & expect to get around clothing racks.You'd be pushing and pulling the thing trying to get it to turn & it wouldn't fit anyway.

- STORAGE:looks good - I think I could actually fit some stuff down there.I could easily and comfortably fit 2filled paper grocery bags down there to give you an idea.they would be easily accessable too.storage is a plus.

- HARNESS:they kept the harness design where the 5 point part of it is not secure.I don't know how to explain this properly - just think of it like this - there is only a 3 point harness.this stroller does not have a 5 point harness(it does but the top of the 5 point harness is not attached to anything so it's worthless.which is neither bad or good, it's just an observation. (actually it's only bad if you were hoping for a 5 point harness.

- FOLDING & UNFOLDING: easy to do

- WEIGHT & MATERIAL: you can lift it with one hand.very nice weight!......oh, but the downside!when you turn this stroller, the whole thing is made of plastic so you can feel the entire frame torque.simply by turning a corner.the frame twists & I'm just waiting for it to snap.It won't but it feels like it will.I don't think this stroller would last long with my use.

anyhow, that's my review.here's my take on other strollers:

- gracos?too difficult to steer

- bob double?kids are reclined & no trays & storage is hard to get to(their trays are so poorly designed they are not worth buying)I have the bob revolution ($450 incl. accessories, great but only takes 1 kid & no useful cup holder (I bought the cup holder & it's worthless & the seats don't sit straight up)

- jane powertwin?great for kids under 1 year old but the seats still have to be removed to fold it

- baby jogger same problem as bob - kids are reclined(& they don'thave good trays)

- kolcraft tandem?$200, it's a beast. super super heavy & you have to take the seats off (difficult) every time you fold it

- peg perego pliko p3 ($350, still use it but hard to steer),

- joovy caboose triple stroller ($400, too big for our suv - have to disassemble it for it to fit)

my 2 favorites are the joovy ergo sit & stand (i wrote a review on that one on amazon) & my favorite(which is the most perfect stroller I've ever tried & the only one I"ll ever need) is the ridiculously expensive bumbleride twin (I wrote a review for that one too).

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Product Description:
REGULAR PRICE $329.99