Bugaboo Cameleon buggy / pram

With a spec sheet that reads more like a sports car's and a massive celebrity following it is easy to see why dads are drawn to the Bugaboo Cameleon, but does it live up to the hype?

Reviewer: Stuart Miles
Review Date: 13 May 2006
Manufacturer: Bugaboo
Price as reviewed: £599
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Our score

9/10

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Reader score

2/10

Reader review

User: thebikeman (profile)
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Date Posted: 6 August 2008
Review: It's true that this is the celeb's choice of pram. I remember a particular picture of Gwynneth Paltrow with her daughter, Apple in one of the celebrity rags. It is also true that this is a chav's favourite. I experienced this myself whilst crossing at a traffic light and three young chavvy girls behind talking about how their pregnant, no doubt teenage, friend was really after this "one". What can I say, it's a love it or loath it product. Whilst the manufacturer claims it will accommodate a four year old, I guess they must have been testing it on a very small one. My two and a half year old is already getting too big for it. His head rests on the hood when it's folded back and his weight makes the plastic mountings flex in a way that I would not like to see a child suspended. Every time he climbs in and out I expect to hear the snapping of expensive brackets.
Pros: Comfortable and very easy to manoeuver. The pneumatic tyres will no doubt cushion the ride and make it comfortable for your little one as you traverse London's badly maintained pavements and improperly installed drop kerbs. The pram has essentially two modes, one for when baby is new born and needs to be carted about and the other for when they are old enough to sit up and control their heads. In the seat mode it has three positions which allow for upright, recline or flat (not normally used for the seat mode). The washable fleece seat lining and detachable cover comes in a multitude of colour to match almost anything, like your car for instance! There is the option of fitting a car seat (for newborn to 6 months) using adapters. This we found useful as we would cart Oliver in and out of the car with him still asleep and not realising his mode of transport had been changed.
Cons: There's so much here that I don't know where to begin. Firstly, it's a largish pram, wide and though stable it will not fit through many of London's older double decker buses and is a tight fit to get to the middle of the bus on a crowded one with unco-operative passengers. It's even worse on those small single decker ones. It's biggest drawback is the way it folds. I have no doubt that many long nails have been broken trying to get the pram in a folded position. It's as complicated as a folding deck chair. It folds and unfolds, but it's not obvious how. When you do manage to get it folded, the contents of the carrier basket will be spilt over the high street, so empty it first or be prepared to run after that rolling can. I've seen many women and men struggle to fold it. I think this pram has contributed to the sales of large 4x4s as they are the only vehicles that have a large and tall enough load space to take the Bugaboo unfolded. It's a non starter for travelling on planes. You have to remove the seat section from the wheel base before it can be folded. It won't fold like an umbrella stroller and the air stewards will not thank you for taking one on board. If you do, make sure you buy the optional travel bag and go First Class. You can optionally take the wheels off, all four, but it does mean 4 more things to lose. The whole assembly takes up all the boot space in our Golf, leaving a space here and there to fit bags. It's never been taken on holiday and is only used in the local area. You will need to buy another pram/stroller. It's too heavy to lug up and down stairs on the Underground, I've tried and it's too cumbersome. It's so ubiquitous in certain parts of London and the Burberry crowd are now buying it in droves - another reason not to buy one. If you've really set your heart on one, and it has to be this reason and not the impracticality of the Bugaboo, then get someone else to pay for it, because when you throw it in the bin it won't hurt so much.
Score: 2/10
Rating: 33 people have rated this review helpful