Hauck Duett Review from Harrogate Nursery Fair, 2011, by Best Buggy

The Hauck Duett is a new tandem pushchair from Hauck. I have to say considering you can buy one as cheaply as £240 (RRP £350) at present we were pretty impressed.

First impressions good, we started to look more closely. The first thing noted was that its a fairly tall pushchair, especially with the front seat hood up. If you look at the photos, the handle in all but the folded photo, is fully extended (approx 15cms extension). It may be a detail to note if you are short. The pushchairs itself was smart. It reminds me a lot of the Britax B-Dual with its main upper seat and its less luxurious lower seat. But unlike the B-Dual, there is no need to purchase a soft cot, carrycot or even the second seat! The second seat is included in the price and the upper seat converts really easily – just undo a clip and a strap – into a smart looking carrycot with apron.  Both seats have a hood and recline. You can also add on an infant car seat if you purchase the adaptors. I believe a Concord or Zero Plus Comfort fits (but please check).  Raincovers are not included in the package. The pushchair can be used in single or tandem mode.

However we were less convinced by how practical this pushchair was. In two seat mode the Duett looks compact and good. But the lower child seemed to be closer to the front seat than I would like for my child. There is more room if you recline the lower seat but how many babies want to ride like that after six months? But the recline is easy to do. But to be honest its when the Duett is in carrycot mode that it looks problematic. Whilst you can put the carrycot facing the parent or forwards there is barely any room for the child underneath. If you had say 4 month old twins then I would consider using the carrycot for one child and finding some way to put say a Bugaboo Cocoon in the lower seat. But I am not sure you could either use the Duett for twins from birth, nor an older child with the carrycot unless the elder was very young and didn’t mind being reclined for several months.

The second seat renders the good sized basket as pretty useless for more than small bits and pieces. It’s a shame the basket isn’t further forwards on the frame. The Duett promotional photographs seems to show the basket as huge even in double mode but you just can’t get into it effectively.

I have had reports from a tester that the back seat is very hard to remove which makes it a bulky pushchair to put in a car boot. The man on the Hauck stand was confused enough trying to fold the pushchair without trying to remove the lower seat!  It took two of us to work out how to fold the Duett, and I am pretty nifty at finding the right buttons to press! It was good that the pushchair will fold with both seats on – it was very very bulky though (see the photo above) – and after watching the online demo video, even just the chassis is still bulky when folded.

I have to say the front wheels seemed small. I can’t find the measurements, but I did try to simulate going up a kerb and it was hard to put enough weight on the back to lift the front up.

All round I have to say that whilst its a good looking pushchair at a great price, I am not sure how practical it is in real life. I think if you were interested in buying this, that you would need to think through what options you would need and how you would use it first.