Joolz - Aer²

We are in the same situation as you, city living, no car, no option to store the stroller at the ground level of our walk up.  We bought a Joolz Aer + with a bassinet attachment- baby’s not quite here yet so I don’t have a full review. But I am happy to say it feels really solid and not like just a travel stroller, especially with the bassinet attachment. It’s a lot smaller than my friends bugaboo (because of course it is) so I dont know if we will use the bassinet attachment for as long. But it folds great, with or without the bassinet, and the bassinet is easy to take on and off, which is what we wanted for our 2nd floor walk up (3rd floor european) apartment. And I cannot imagine buying a heavier stroller than this - it’s supposed to be one of the lightest but still damn! 2 things I might see as negatives with use- 1. The suspension isn’t as good as a full size of course.  I am hoping it is good enough, but we live in a town with a fair amount of cobblestones and even some “stroller approved hikes” so I will definitely be putting it to the test!  2. I wish an engineer would make magic and find a way to make a lightweight travel stroller with the storage capacity of a full size- since we also don’t have a car I know I will be filling the storage underneath to absolute max capacity and I wish it was bigger, but I know it’s not possible and actually the Joolz aer has been praised for having more room than other compacts.  The way I reassured myself to pull the trigger on this one was to start with the smallest stroller that could work and get it on sale/ used. That way, if it didn’t work out as an every day stroller, we had a good stroller for flights (all family lives abroad) and we could feel better about keeping this one for travel, store it away (like I said, it folds great) and then invest in something more robust for every day if we really needed it. Good luck with your search! 

Babe is almost 5 weeks: We have just a travel stroller, the aer+ with bassinet. We live in a mid sized city in a 2nd/ 3rd floor walk up with a narrow staircase and no car and no stroller room on the main floor, so we needed something easy to fold and carry up and down, plus the smaller size is nice for transit. So far it’s working out well for us. However, If we had a stroller room in our building where we could store the stroller on the ground floor I think I would have gotten a midsized like the Joolz geo AND a less expensive travel stroller , something not name brand and second hand. Our city has a lot of cobblestones so I’m missing better suspension/ bigger wheels and more storage for errands. And our families both live in different countries so we plan on doing a lot of traveling, hence why we need a travel stroller. But it sounds like you have a car lifestyle and could get by without a huge storage basket and don’t necessarily need the suspension of a full size- maybe the aer plus would also work for you.

I would go joolz aer 2 and then get the carrycot

We have successfully used as sole buggy - I’m really happy with it

Coming up to 2 years with one kid. My advice is skip the bassinet and get car seat adapters for first six months (baby shouldn’t be in car seat for more then 1.5 hours but unlikely you will leave baby in there for any longer with feeding etc). When they get to sitting up age aka using the normal seat, you can get a thing called a pram wedge if they don’t like the slanted angle to help sit them upright. It’s a very functional option as stroller

Never been happy with Silvercross. We’ve had the Silvercross full bundle - car seat was rubbish and the pram was heavy and impractical. Rucksack and hand warmers were a nice touch. I would avoid any Silvercross products based on my experience. We’ve had the Bugaboo double (side by side, called donkey I think?!) - it’s good but a bit unwieldy, Doona one that converts to a car seat (useful but heavy and uncomfortable for child), Babyzen yo-yo (useful for travel but limited) and the Joolz aer which is great for travel (can get on a plane) and more versatile than the Babyzen so it can be used more like a normal pram - it’s been my favourite travel pram. On a side note, the Cybex car seats that rotate are amazing.

Joolz aer 2 and Nuna pipa URBN are what I’m doing for my nyc baby. This combo is most versatile for travel etc.

Agreed. Friends have the Yoyo which is typically the other main contender but are jealous of our AER2 and prefer it.

We have the Aer and love it for travel! We’ve taken it onto the plate and put it in the overheads no problem. Our son is 19 months now and still uses it, but does like to walk occasionally, but his stamina is low so it still get use! You’ll probably time you end up using it more than your original one, especially in London as it’s so light and easy to handle.

I’m planning on the Aer2 too! You can do the fold one-handed, which you can’t with the Yoyo.

The new joolz aer 2 actually has a full recline. You can probably transition to it with a 1 or 2 month old if you feel confident and safe.

General consensus is Joolz Aer usurped the yoyo for best lightweight travel stroller that fits in an airplane overhead. Swiv and triv are like light and easy to fold versions of the uppababy cruz. Triv/swiv allow the chair to face backwards towards a part which some people like during the transition out of the bassinet. Other parents don't care going straight to forward facing seats. The new joolz aer has a full recline which means you might be able skip buying a bassinet attachment if you feel comfortable strapping in the newborn. It seems like the hive mind 5 years ago was either yoyo or uppababy cruz. But these days it's definitely joolz aer, but a toss up between uppababy or nuna for the cruz/triv/swiv form factor. Cruz is harder to fold and bigger folded, but more durable. Triv/swiv is smaller folder, lighter, and has a one handed fold at the cost of durability. If you have an elevator building and storage space uppababy seems nice.... But if you need to carry a stroller up stairs in a walk up brownstone the lightweight nuna strollers might be a better option. I have both a swiv and aer+. I like having both for different types of outings. But probably should have gotten a used joolz aer to save money as a travel beater stroller.

Pass on the Doona. It's not a stroller, but a carseat with wheels. Not good for long walks or rough terrain. I personally thought the Vista options were like the SUVs of strollers in NYC. I do not want to be carrying that up and down stairs and it seems like a lot of people are getting buy with YoYos. One thing I have seen people doing is ordering a Joolz Aer+ from Scandinavia. My local shop recommended it over the YoYo, but the US version does not allow full recline for newborns. The Scandinavia version does however, so that could be a good option. You can also get an adapter to work with a Nuna Pipa car seat for the Joolz Aer. We aren't taking our newborn out yet, but we ended up getting an Aer for travel purposes and Nuna Swiv for a more daily driver. The price tag seems steep compared to say the Nuna Triv, but if you bought all the accessories included with the Swiv for the Triv, the price difference is only 50 bucks. We skipped the bassinet because it's winter and by the time we go out we won't need the bassinet and will likely be using a carrier near term if we do go out. The way I look at it, if I ever have buyers remorse I'll just go to my buy nothing group, facebook marketplace, or other parent group to grab a cheap used Vista Cruz since the secondary market seems to be flooded with them.

I saw them both in person today and the folded bugaboo looks clunky compared to the joolz which looks so nice and neat but I’m torn because: 1. Will I be annoyed about the recline having to unzip and re zip 2. Basket size - I could easily put in a whole nappy bag into the bugaboo but really struggled with the joolz 3. I really do like the lighter weight of the joolz tho, especially living in the city where there are so many bloody stairs! So will I be annoyed at the bugaboo because it’s heavier and less portable?!