Bugaboo Cameleon Standard Stroller

I've had the Bugaboo for 3 and half years, so more than enough time to get used to it. I used it for a while before also buying a Maclaren Techno XT (also reviewed here).

THE GOOD....:

Looks lovely.

Well made: very good quality design and manufacture.

Lovely large hood. This was a huge benefit and made the sun parasol I bought as an extra completely unnecessary. Easy to adjust too.

Washes well. All of the seat fabric can be removed and machine washed. I did this two or there times without any fading or shrinkage.

Retains value: I'm about to sell mine and expect to get about half of the money back (but it was ridiculously expensive....).

Replacement parts easily available: If you break a part of simply fancy a change of colourway for the Fabric then they're easily available.

Shopping basket is large and with its drawstring top felt more secure than others

Manoeuvrable. The design make it very easy to push (see below too though...)

Variable height handle (although I never used this)

AND THE NOT SO GOOD....

The first downside of the Bugaboo is that to fold it the seat (or pram, whichever is in use) has to be removed. This is a huge faff and a tricky if you're trying to hold baby or wriggly toddler too. The actual folding operation is also two handed (where's baby?!), tricky and not that intuitive.

The seat unit is relatively small. Not a problem for a baby of course but by the time the child is two and a half ish they are starting to look very cramped and their head brushes against the hood. My child is still way below the theoretical maximum weight the Bugaboo is made for but really does look rather silly in the seat.

The seat design means the child will never lie flat with their whole body at or close to 180 degrees. The whole seat tilts but the child remains in the sitting position.

To switch between the seat and the pram is a major operation. This was an issue for a short while when the baby was around 4 months and would make it difficult to share the Bugagoo between a newborn and an older sibling. There is however the option of buying additional parts to the pram unit or seat can be permanently set up and then just clicked into place.

Cost: My set up which is everything in the basic package plus the MaxiCosi car seat and adaptors, Bugaboo foot muff and sun parasol cost over £1000.

Clunky. It's hard to describe what i mean by this but I'll have a go. When leaning down on the handle to mount a kerb for example there is quite a bit of movement before the front wheels lift. In the same way the handle can be "wobbled" a fair bit even when it fixed in position.

I took ages deciding whether or not to buy this and on balance if I were to start again with the same brief I wouldn't. The Maclaren was perfect for every occasion and although perhaps not ideal for the first three months the baby was in the sling for much of that time anyway. Once the Maclaren had arrived I found it became the default pushchair of choice because it was so much simpler to use and, as my child grew, more comfortable too.

Overall the Bugaboo Cameleon is a good pram, quite sturdy and easy to put together/collapse. However there are a couple of annoying features:

1) Basket underneath is useless when using the carrycot on the pram chassis. you can't access the basket because the carrycot sits so low on the chassis. This means you can't put a carrier bag of shopping into it unless you were to remove the carrycot, put the bag into the basket and then refit the carrycot! I've had to take individual items out of a carrier bag and squeeze them into the basket in order to carry my shopping home.... v annoying!

2) Car seat adaptors for maxi cosi cabriofix seat - trying to fit this seat is really fiddly. perhaps there is a knack to it but I haven't figured it out yet so end up messing about with it every time I use it. Sometimes it clips on quickly but usually it requires several attempts.

3) Putting the pram together is also fiddly. Collapsing it is very simple but to put it back together is a bit fiddly and there is a definite knack to it....a friend had to show me because the demo video and instructions were useless.

I bought my bugaboo 4 years ago and am still using it today for my third baby and it is as good as ever. It is brillant push chair. Easy to push and worth evry penny. My kids always looked so comfortable in it and i used it until they were 2 years. Only downside is that it is big and you need a big boot.

Had quite a few pushchairs and strollers with my two children but then after having my third child I discovered the bugaboo cameleon and wow it's the best pushchair I've owned by far... Ok it's expensive but worth every penny. So light and easy to push especially when holding my daughters hand at the same time. They sell snow wheels but why I don't know as pushed fantastic through the snow. So much better with foam filled tyres as stop those nasty punctures. I was a pramoholic but now I'm a fan of the bugaboo cameleon I will not swap it for the world..

I have a Cameleon for my grandson who is now 15 months old. Reading other reviews makes me think I have a faulty model though with so many disadvantages, I can't see it. The carrycot part was useful as a small baby but the whole thing is incredibly cumbersome and difficult to adjust. I found I needed brute strength just to put it together in the first place. I have quite small hands and find just tilting the seat difficult. The hood keeps leaving the main base every time I put it up. The rain cover is a very poor fit. It won't fit in the back of my Yaris and I really couldn't be bothered (actually, physically can't) to take it apart in any case. The seat itself is very narrow and I really can't see him being able to use it until he's four as his head is already touching the hood. When he's been on the park I have to remove his shoes if he has dirty feet as there's no foot plate and cleaning out the fabric is not practical.

The only thing in its favour is that it's very smooth to push but that is the only advantage at my grandson's age over the fold-up buggy I have also had to purchase. Incidentally I could have bought 20.4 buggies with covers/extras for what I paid for the Cameleon and fabrics etc.

In short, far too much money and much too much trouble than it's worth

I would say that the Bugaboo Cameleon was the best baby purchase I made. It pushes like a dream, and as walking is my main source of transportation, this has worked out great for me. I am easily able to use the large back wheels to get the pram up and down the few steps to my flat. Also, the bassinet portion is quite roomy. I even used that for my son to sleep in at home when he was first born. I highly recommend buying the car seat adapters. It makes life so much easier. Though this pram is large, we easily fit it in the back of our VW Polo. The pram has to be seperated into two parts to be folded (frame and seat/bassinet), but this is how it is with all large size prams.

Now for the downside, really the under basket is useless. You can't even reach it when the bassinet is on. I don't even use the under basket. I had it on when we first bought the stroller, but then removed it, as it was useless. I do have little clips on the handle though, to hold my nappy bag. Also, you have to pull the car seat adapters on and off to fold up the frame. It is a minor annoyance, but an annoyance non-the-less. By and far though, I think this pram was worth the money for me and I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

i bought the bugaboo cameleon, for the 3rd and last child- i think. i wanted to treat myself, so i splashed out on a hot pink and brown one.

well its really not practical at all, the basket is a no no ,to reach with the carrycot on, i have a toyota verso- the 7 seater, and this just about fits into the boot.

u have to take the seat unit off the frame bit when u collapse the pram- so when u take the seat off and put into the boot and then u have to put the frame bit ontop of the seat, making it all mucky -the wheels go all over the seat fabric. so annoying!! i have 2 other kids, so i have to do things quickly- i dont think i could take the wheels off eachtime i had to fold the pram!

another point i'm annoyed at is the raincover- its so fiddly, -, the raincover will only go on properly, if u have the pram hood opened out , this means that u cant get to see the baby and the baby cant really see much either- because the hood is massive.

apart from this, the pram does turn heads- but i think anyone who wants to buy a bugaboo, should really go somewhere like john lewis and try it out fully b4 buying this really expensive pram.

for my second child i had a maclaren- its the most practical pushcahir ever, i passed it down to my newphews and they used it loads- 6yrs on, its still going strong. i really should have got another one for this baby.

I got a Bugaboo Cameleon for my 4th child and after alot of buggys (10 I think) this is definately the best buggy the lot the carry cot is great my son loved sleeping in it and I found it so easy to push even could push it one handed with mt older 4 year old on the buggy board cant recommend it more - ok it is expensive but worth every penny

I have had my bugaboo for 2 years now and LOVE it. It is easy to push (even one handed) has great storage space, is comfy for my daughter and worth every penny I spent on it. I do a lot of walking about with my daughter and this pushchair is a dream to push

I bought a bugaboo cameleon standard stroller and I still love it three years later. The carrycot is a really good size and unless you have a REALLY tall baby then there seems plenty of room for at least the first 5-6 months. We swapped our son into the seat at about 5 and a half months and it was brilliant to be able to recline the seat fully for him to sleep and have him facing us. Once he was a bit older and really curious, we swapped him to forward facing and this was brilliant too.Build quality seems really good and we haven't had a single problem with the Bug at all. The cleaning and maintenance kit that comes with it has been fantastic and we've made sure that we've looked after it well. I can honestly say that it still looks as good as new!It is a bit awkward taking the seat and carrycot off to fold it away, but to be honest when our son got to about 10 months old I bought a Maclaren buggy which has been kept in the car ever since. That meant the Bugaboo was kept upright and ready to go when we were out walking etc.Our second baby is due this October and despite looking at Phil & Ted's etc, I'm reluctant to part with the money for something that doesn't really look as good quality as the Bugaboo. Our eldest will be just turned 3 when the baby arrives so I'm planning on getting a buggy board and re-using our Bug for the new baby. I can't wait to start using it again!!