Guide to Buying Jogging Stroller

What Makes a Good Jogging Stroller

The important criteria for a good jogging stroller seem to be:

1. Wheel size: bigger means smoother ride and easier to push (less rolling resistance)
2. Construction and design quality: how sturdy or flimsy the stroller is, and how it will last over the long-term. You don't want a stroller that is easily bent since the stroller may not roll straight after that. Many designs feature shock absorbers, which we'll touch on later.
3. Sunshade or canopy: how well the stroller can shield the passenger (i.e., the little one) from the sun, wind or rain.
4. Handlebar height and design: how high the handlebars are, and if they are adjustable, and additional features (hand brakes, tethers, handy water bottle/sippy cup holders, etc.)

For this article we are looking for a single-passenger stroller, so for now we didn't really consider the double (and even triple) strollers. The doubles and triples are probably a whole different article, although perhaps much of this article is pertinent to them.

Wheels

To address the age-old question of whether size is everything, we'll talk about the wheels first. The main question we had was if bigger always meant better?

Wheel Size

Wheel size, as mentioned before, affects the ride quality. Three wheel diameters seem to be prevalent: 12-inch, 16-inch and 20-inch. For skating, 16-inch wheels seem to be the minimum recommended height, with 20-inch wheels suggested. 20-inch wheels will ride smoother and handle bumps better, but the trade-off is a somewhat bulkier stroller to transport. 16-inch seems to be a happy medium that many people chose (as per the reviews). While we're sure the ride is extra smooth, we don't know if we quite want a stroller with wheels almost as large as a bicycle.

Wheel Type

Recently there have been a new class of strollers introduced that are much like jogging strollers, but sport a swiveling front wheel for added manuverability. While we didn't want to blindly exclude any strollers, none of the swivel wheels trollers ended up making the short list.

Most of these strollers have only 12-inch wheels. Several have 16-inch on the rear and 12-inch on the front, which is not terrible. Also, some models let you lock the front wheel in place, if you want, which is nice. What mostly kept the swivel wheel strollers out of contention was that they tended to be the low-end brands, and that meant the canopies generally were insufficient, and the construction quality was not quite up to par. Please do not consider any of the swivel wheels strollers to be jogging strollers. So if you can't jog with them, we're assuming skating is out too.

However, if you have experiences or evidence to the contrary, definitely let us know.

Wheel Arrangement

Most all the strollers sport three wheels, two on the rear and one in the center up front. Some strollers have a larger back wheels than the front wheel, but most models seem to have the same wheel size for all 3 positions. There are also some models (we think only one or two) that have two wheels in front and one in back. But these were definitely not jogging strollers.

So the verdict on the wheels? There is a lot more to it than just the wheel size. However, bigger does seem to be better, at least in terms of better ride and less rolling resistance. Of course, you'll have to pay more, but that's a tradeoff you'll have to decide for yourself.

Canopy

While it may not be readily apparent in a catalog or in the store, the design of the canopy or sunshade on the stroller is actual quite crucial, and can be a deal-breaker (at least for many people). If your passenger is getting hit with direct sunlight or wind the entire time, it won't matter how cushy everything else is! There are some add-on sunshade canopies (either through the manufacturer or via third-parties), but frankly it's much better to have a large adjustable one that is built-in to begin with.

Handlebars

Since we wanted the stroller to be comfortable for both walking and skating, we considered an adjustable handlebar as being a plus on my checklist. When you're on skates, you might be a full 4 inches taller than in your shoes. Some of the mid- and high-end strollers appear to have adjustable handlebars. Also, note that if you get 20-inch wheels, the stroller will ride 2 inches higher than if it has 16-inch wheels (i.e., the difference in diameter is 4 inches, so the radius difference is half that). Anyway, we'll cover how to determine the proper handlebar height later on. As it turns out, the adjustable handlebar is still a plus, although perhaps not the overall deciding factor.

Weight Limit

One noticeable difference between the low and high-end strollers is that the low to mid-end brands usually have a total cargo+passenger weight limit of maybe 40-50 pounds. The high-end strollers can usually handle 70-85 pounds, and some go up to even 100 pounds. The greater weight limit correlates pretty closely with the quality of construction (i.e., the higher the limit the better the contruction). The strollers with welded metal frames can support much higher loads than the ones with metal tubes connected with plastic joints.

Anyway, having a higher weight limit means your child can be older and still comfortably ride in the stroller. And it also means you can stow more gear in the stoller (let's see: diapers, wipes, drinks, snacks, cell phone, keys, toys, and so on).

Shocks or no Shocks?

Many jogging (and even non-jogging) strollers come with shock absorbers now. Naturally, shocks are great if you expect to encounter fairly bumpy trails or roads. If you're going to be in the mall or on pretty flat sidewalks or roads though, they're not particularly necessary. As a comparison, consider mountain bikes for a minute.

On mountain bikes you want the shocks there to absorb the energy created by all bumps or holes. However, since we are wanting a skating stroller, and presumably we are skating on mostly paved and smooth surfaces, the shocks would actually work somewhat against us. Instead of absorbing energy from bumps, they would be absorbing energy from our skating strokes. With bikes, you want the rigid frame of a touring bike on the road. And so we also want a rigid no-shocks stroller for skating. This doesn't mean you can't have a stroller with shocks to skate with, but if you already have plenty of weight to push (you, stroller, baby, and baby gear), this might be a factor. Also consider that strollers with shocks tend to cost a little more than their non-shock sister models, so if there's no need for them, you can save some money.

Brakes

You didn't think we'd leave out brakes did you? 8-) On most every model there's a hand brake to apply braking to the front wheel (and only the front wheel). In most cases, the braking is for parking only (i.e., you are not meant to use it to slow down the stroller). This means you'll have to apply extra braking on your skates, in order to slow both yourself, a 20+ pound stroller, and up to 70-80 pounds of cargo and passenger.

Some models have parking brakes for the rear wheels and some don't. The parking brakes aren't crucial, but certainly are handy for keeping the stroller stationary while you are attending to your skates or getting stuff out of the stroller. If you're skating, make sure to keep the front wheel down for the brake to have any effect. Also, some strollers come with a wrist tether, so that in case you fall down, you won't have a runaway stroller.

Everything Else

The rest of the features tend to be somewhat cosmetic or optional. Steel vs. alloy wheels/hubs (steel will rust eventually). Most strollers have at least several choices of color. Additional features such as cup holders or pockets to hold stuff are nice, but not a deal breaker for some people. Also, warranties seem to range from 1-year, 5-year, 20-25 years, and even lifetime. We imagine if you only ever have one child, then anything beyond 5 years might seem overkill. However, if you think you might want to give or sell the stroller afterwards, having it still be under warranty after many years of use will surely be important. Given the high price tags, a nice resale value is probably not a bad thing to factor in.

Still in Doubt?

Don't forget to read our jogging stroller FAQ.