It may be that I just have a cheap stroller. My friend bought it at a garage sale, and lent it to me. I had the tires checked and one tube replaced at the bike shop, and off I went . . . to the end of the block, where I decided I had to go back home.
Since the front wheel is fixed (which I understand is a feature of jogging strollers), even the slightest course correction required me to push down on the handle to lift the front wheel off the ground slightly. Since there are no true straightaways in my neighborhood, this got tedious really quickly. I returned home with sore forearms and a sense of disappointment.
Am I missing something? Is there a trick to it? Do quality jogging strollers steer more easily somehow? Or do most people just lift that front wheel constantly and not have problems with it?
We got a jogging stroller as our primary means of livery for the twins. It is a side-by-side and while a little heavy in and of itself, it became more and more cumbersome as the kids grew. Yes, you have to push down on the handles to steer, but it was relatively easy when we were our and about in the great outdoors. Mind you, we only used it as a stroller as neither of us run/jog. The nasty part was using when shopping. Damn thing is so wide that we had to make note of which doors it fit through. That said, the kids loved it…they could always see where we were going, there was never any fighting for the front seat, and they were able to play with one another. Well, maybe the last point wasn’t a positive experience for us…it always led to pleas for quiet.
Come to think of it, we used an old fashioned pram for the first few months and that had the same steering as the jogger ie. none.
Yep, you have to lift the front wheel to turn the thing. You might try shifting some of the cargo(Diaper bag, purse) rearward to to make it easier to do.
I have seen some models that have a front wheel that can either pivot or lock in place like other jogging strollers, and they warn not to use as a jogging stroller without the wheel locked in place. Why? Is it unsafe to jog with a front wheel that turns? I would think it is a pain to turn the way the OP describes.
Thanks for the information, all. And yes, I personally think it’s a PITA to lift the wheel to turn, especially because on a gentle curve (which is all of my neighborhood), I pretty much have to do it constantly. Why bother with the front wheel at all - just make it a reverse rickshaw and be done with it!
I think the idea is that if you’re cruising along at 6 mph and the front whell turns sideways, it will stop you short and make you and/or the stroller go flying. I have jogged with my regular (front wheels rotate) stroller without any such calamities occuring. Also my pace is more like 4 mph. And even at that pace, I just can’t imagine trying to maneuver the jogging stroller. I’m glad it works for other people, but I don’t think it’s for me.
Now of course, I’m so tempted to go back to that bike store and drop a huge chunk of change on a bike and baby trailer instead!
I use our fixed-wheel jogger for all of our neighborhood walking (our pavement’s not great, plus we often cut through the woods to get to the playground). And I live on a circle! I don’t find it to be very frustrating at all. Maybe you get used to it? I’m trying to figure out how I steer, and I can’t even think of it, it’s so intuitive. I think that you can make wide turns by leaning more on the right or left, but I can’t swear to it. It must be easy, because I can walk the dog while pushing the stroller.
