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Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle Runway Collection Review by Milena

 Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle Runway Collection

What can I say? This is one stunning pushchair! It looks very impressive, it’s much bigger than what I was used to and can tackle any terrain.
 What is it? A Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle! The one we have is a special edition called Runway, and guess what, it looks like it just came off a runway! I love the fabrics, the detailing and the contrasting colours. Navy simply looks great with bright orange.

Starting from the top, the handlebar feels familiar if you ever had a Mountain Buggy, it’s rubberised and has a great ergonomic shape. It’s also height adjustable and I have to say that it feels nice and high. I’m 5’7” and I have it set at a medium height. It’s also a little further away from the rest of the pushchair so there’s no chance of kicking the rear axle or wheels if you have a long stride. On the side of the handlebar you’ll also find a great bottle holder, it comes with the pushchair and is absolutely fabulous to keep a water bottle at hand!

The frame is made from aluminium and doesn’t look or feel heavy. Interestingly the front footplate and wheel fork are made of steel. This is the part of the pushchair that has to be most durable and won’t deteriorate over time.

The canopy really is huge. There’s a pull out mesh sun visor and a peak-a-boo window to spy on your little one. The great thing is that you can choose to have the canopy fixed in position with a set of poppers or you can have it follow-the-sun and pull it down to shade your child.

The seat has a nice tall seat back great for older toddlers but I feel that it’s a little shallow. My son sometimes looks like he’s slipping out of it. I love that there are shoulder and crotch pads included, these are large and really well padded. I always loved the Mountain Buggy buckles. A child simply cannot escape! You need 2 hands to unbuckle the harness. The recline on the seat is one of my favourites. It’s again similar on all Mountain Buggies. There’s two straps that you need to release to let the seat back stop where you need it to. It reclines all the way flat and I mean 180 degrees flat thus being suitable from birth. Now the best part! There’s no struggling with putting the seat back upright! It was almost impossible to put my son up in our previous pushchair because I simply didn’t have enough strength in my hands to pull the toggle up. Here you can pull the strap on each side separately while supporting the seat back with your other hand. It couldn’t be easier!

There’s just one thing about the seat recline and that is a major bug bear of mine. The fabric bunches up around the child’s head when you put the seat from reclined to upright position. It’s possible to put that excess fabric behind the seat but it’s hard to do due to the PE board in the seat and when I actually manage to do that, it’s very hard to recline the seat again when you need to. This is not a new issue, the other Mountain Buggies have the same problem on them, it’s just a result of the way the recline works.

Going down the seat you can clearly see the unmistakable metal kickplate with Mountain Buggy logo and a fixed footrest right over the front wheel. Unfortunately there’s no footrest for a younger child. My son is 21 months and he can just reach the footrest but he can’t really use it. Instead he always tries to rest his feet right in between the seat fabric and the metal kickplate. It doesn’t look particularly comfortable to be honest.

Included with the pushchair is a bumper bar. I like the shape of it and how it looks when on the buggy but unfortunately it’s not gate opening meaning that you need to remove it to put your child in the seat or take them out. The way the bumper bar attached to the frame is also very basic. This is the one part of the Urban Jungle that I’m least impressed with.

Below the seat you’ll see a very generous sized shopping basket. It’s actually larger than I expected on an off-road pushchair. What’s best about it is that there are several pockets on the sides of the basket including a large zipped pocket for some parent essentials. Those pockets easily hold my mobile, small purse, keys, tissues, and 2 pairs of sunglasses. They’re absolutely wonderful to have!

Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle rides on 3 12” air filled tires. It also has a very effective rear suspension that gives a smooth ride over any terrains.

The brake is located on the back axle with pedals near the left and right wheel. When you step on the pedal the brake engages with quite an audible sound. It’s slightly awkward to release the brake as the pedals are small and near the ground. I can easily fit my foot underneath the pedal when I’m wearing trainers but it’s much harder to perform in boots. You might find yourself lifting the pushchair slightly to fit your foot under the pedal to release the brakes.

The fold on Mountain Buggies is the same. On both sides of the kickplate, there’s 2 small levers that need lifting with your fingers while holding a safety catch on one side. The whole buggy collapses onto itself almost flat. You need to remember to wriggle the front wheel so that it faces forward though. The folded size is not overly huge, it’s quite long but slim. The rear wheels are quick release to make it more compact. There’s manual strap to keep it closed. If you adjust the handle in to the lower position, the Urban Jungle will also freestand making it very easy to store at home.

The whole pushchair looks quite utilitarian, this is again similar on most Mountain Buggies. What surprises is that in this special Runway edition they have managed to make it also fashionable and very stylish!

It’s worth noting that there are no other accessories included in the price. The raincover is an extra. Like I said earlier the seat is suitable from birth but you can also buy a carrycot for your newborn baby. The nice thing about the Urban Jungle is that you can strip the fabrics off to use the carrycot or car seat – it looks much better that some others when the cot attaches to the seat.

Having had a few already I have yet to find my perfect pushchair. The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle is very close to being one! The things I love about it is the large, comfortable seat, huge canopy, the handlebar’s shape, pockets on the shopping basket and of course manoeuvrability, ease of getting up and down the highest of kerbs and being able to walk over all terrains from shopping centres to forests. The few niggles I have with it don’t really seem important and can be tolerated.

Note: the 2013 Urban Jungle Evolution (not Runway edition) has an automatic lock and also a gate opening bumper bar!

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