UPPAbaby Vista 2018 vs Baby Jogger City Select Lux Stroller

UPPAbaby Vista 2018 vs Baby Jogger City Select Stroller

Whether you’re shopping for your first or your second (or your third!) kid, the Baby Jogger City Select Lux and the Uppababy Vista 2018 will most surely be on your radar. Both are phenomenal single strollers and have a multitude of ways to accommodate for up to three children of varying ages. Both are notorious for their ability to grow with families as well as their robust, city-friendly frames. So which one is right for your family?

Let’s start with the Baby Jogger City Select Lux. The addition of “Lux” to the name marked the biggest update Baby Jogger has made in the last five years. This year, they made a plethora of improvements. The tires feature better rubberization and significantly more suspension on the back axle, meaning better control on grass and snow, as well as a longer-lasting tire. They also added front wheel suspension. On top of that, they improved their brake by adding a handbrake.

Baby Jogger also added 2 entirely unique features. First, their seats have the ability to fold in half. They can do so when the whole stroller is folded, or even when taken off the stroller, making it significantly easier to bring a seat with you to any occasion where you’re unsure if kiddo will utilize it. They’re about the size of a canvas tote bag, allowing easy portability for places like Disney, where I’m sure your 3 or 4 year old will run around until they’re so tired that they can barely stand up. The second major addition is the bench seat. A separate accessory, the bench seat is sort of a half-seat. For kids who need to be contained, but aren’t necessarily trying to sleep in the stroller, you can park them on a bench. It includes a small footboard for them to stand on if they’re itching to get our of their stroller seat.

That said, there are still features that may make or break this stroller as the perfect option for you. Compared to the Vista, it’s about 5 pounds heavier. So whether you anticipate lifting it into a car’s trunk or lifting it up the steps into your apartment, there are situations where it will be at a disadvantage. The stroller is also quite long. When talking to couples in the Boston area, I always ask what kinds of stores they frequent or what their streets are like. For the more cramped neighborhoods, with narrow sidewalks and small stores, the City Select Lux’s turning radius can be a disadvantage. For those not worried about the turning radius, the sheer space it puts between each child allows for a more comfortable ride.

The Uppababy Vista in 2018 will look much like the 2017 version. They’re changing the fabrics used, but functionally it will be the exact same. As mentioned previously, this is the lighter model, weighing in at 26lbs (as a single with 1 seat on). The stroller already had the suspension and wheel quality of the City Select before the rest of these updates came into play. The stroller is also much shorter in length than the City Select, which helps it feel less unwieldy, especially if you’re buying it as a single.

When using the Vista as a double, with one older child and one newborn, you will have to attach the bassinet to the bottom of the stroller (where the rumble seat will eventually go), which is not everyone’s cup of tea, as it puts the newborn farther away from you. It was done this way purely in the interest of keeping the size from getting unwieldy. You may still use the car seat on the top position, and the bassinet is usable for overnight sleep, so you’re not at a total loss if you don’t end up using it for baby number two. This definitely ends up being a deciding factor for city families looking for the most compact option.

Speaking of the city, the UPPAbaby Vista 2018 has two very important features for city (and possibly suburban) families. First of all, it has a standing fold. For those who can’t keep the stroller in their garage, trunk, or foyer, and have to wheel it into their small apartment, this feature is a real space-saver. A lot of these strollers have to be laid down flat, or laid precariously on their sides when stored in the home. This creates a footprint almost double that of a standing Vista. Secondly, it has an enormous shopping basket. This allows city families to take grocery trips using just the stroller. Unlike the City Select, the Vista’s basket does not diminish in accessibility when you add more children to your stroller.

Aside from price point, possibly the biggest consideration you may have to make when looking at these two strollers is how quickly you have your children. The Vista’s biggest disadvantage is its seat weight limits. The seat closest to the driver holds 50lbs, whereas the rumble seat (the front seat) holds 37.5. This means that by about 3 or 4 your child will have grown out of the front seat. So having kids a little quicker is important with the Vista. The even weight limits (45lbs each) on the City Select Lux will allow for more varying age groups to use the stroller, kids from 3-5 will have no problems, and with the bench seat you can hold a kid weighing 65lbs! Thats nearly a 7 or 8 year old.

As for style, both strollers have great fabrics for 2018, sticking with the trend of melange textured poly-blends that feel like cotton. But only the Vista has real leather handlebars to really up the class of the stroller. Both have ride-on board attachments that accommodate for a third child, but the city select definitely wins for variety of ages, where the Vista wins for size and weight.

Mike is a Gear Guru at both our Boston and Brookline locations!

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