Phil & Teds Dash Vs Vibe

[Jaffaz]

Hi All

I am due to have baby #2 in Feb when DS will have just turned 3. I have decided to purchase a Phil & Ted inline buggy, however I can't decide between the Vibe and the Dash.

I have had a look at some review forums, and found alot of negative feedback out there on both. The Vibe has had some issues with the front wheel and was off the market for a bit, however the Australian distributor has advised me this is now fixed. People have also mention the toddler seat and straps are very small??

Still I can't decide, I like that the Vibe will fold with rear toddler seat and has a button brake. And I like that the Dash has a pocket behind the main seat and is a little smaller also not as complicated to remove 2nd seat when needed.

Any advice on either model positive/negitive would be much appreciated as I am becoming a little obsessed over this decision.

Thanks in advance.

[feeb]

I have the Dash and love it.

Have not yet used with toddler seat but have been using as a single pram for 14 months.

[Lisa]

I have the vibe and love it. I have the new model with the new front wheel. I got it because I really liked the look of the Vibe, I love the button brake and the fact that the toddler seat is able to be folded whilst on the pram, it saves loads of time, although right now I am using it on the front still so haven't had use of that function as yet.

[*LittleMissSummer*]

I work in a baby store and i've only been there 2 weeks but i have seen 2 vibes come back with problems with the front wheel and the girls at work have said they have lots come back. They are both excellent and they continue to be our best seller in our prams because of the toddler seats. I am pretty sure the vibe is the better one of the both of them.

[Khaleesi]

I have the Vibe & i love it.
We have had the problem with the front wheel, but i took it back to the baby store & they fixed it for us. While my vibe was getting fixed they lent us the Dash.
The Dash is smaller & is lighter to steer, they were the only thing i liked about it,
Honestly i was so happy to have my Vibe back, once you get use to it, the toddler seat is very easy to take off & put on. My toddler can easily fit in the toddler seat & she is very tall for her age.
The button brake can be a pain, i'm always accidently clicking it.

If you have anymore questions i'm happy to try answer them

[Lee]

I have a Mountain Buggy which I consider the rolls royce as far as manauverability - I can turn/move it with 2 fingers!! I currently have a dd aged 1, but am expecting another bub in December, so will need to change prams. If only Mountain Buggy did a toddler seat like P&T ! Went to the baby shop yesterday to look at the Dash and Vibe - and there were things I liked and disliked about both of them. I put my dd in the basic model and the Sport and her head was already touching the sun canopy and getting in her way, so quickly ruled both those models out. Tested the Dash - liked it, but it didn't have as much room or headspace as the Vibe (when dd1 was sitting in the front toddler seat). I hated the Vibe's handle bar, was too thick and not comfortable for my hands (and I have large hands) - and also the sun canopy gets in the way and keeps touching your hands when you push (guy in the shop told me this was an annoying design fault). Admittedly I only had DD in the front toddler seat, so the weight distribution was not good for easily mobility of the prams, I think once another bub is underneath the things will move better - but they are not a patch on the Mountain Buggy - and I'm feel like I'm taking a bit of a step backwards, but don't have much choice. Guy in the shop told me the Dash was the most popular model, and had the strongest frame. I think I would choose the Dash over the Vibe for comfort of pushing (handle height etc). Probably haven't helped much, just my opinion!

The chap in the shop also said the Steelcraft Strider model are about to release (December) a new model with a very similar toddler seat arrangement to P&T - and he's sure it will be a great pram - I'm going to wait till then now before I buy another pram.

Lee

[Jaffaz]

Thanks Ladies,

I really do like the look of the Vibe and the seat is a little wider (DS is a big boy for his age). Does anyone use the Vibe for outdoor walks on gravel paths? How does it go?

Thanks!!

[*LittleMissSummer*]

Thanks Ladies,

I really do like the look of the Vibe and the seat is a little wider (DS is a big boy for his age). Does anyone use the Vibe for outdoor walks on gravel paths? How does it go?

Thanks!!

When i was being trained a few girls said that women used the phil and teds for running with and theyre not supposed to be used for that purpose but they said they go alright just i am not sure how the wheels go on gravel and what not but i am pretty sure that the wheels are easily replaceable and they cost around $50 but its probably better to inquire in a store where they have them and have a look.

[Emma1979]

i just bought the phil and teds dash completely on impulse today.... had been planning on buying a bertini four wheel pram and walked out with the dash.... can't comment on what i think of it yet as it is still in the box, but went on productreview to read the reviews and wished i hadn't!! they have been shocking for phil and teds prams.... that said, there really isn't a hell of a lot of choice when it comes to prams for two kids, unless you want to go side by side or the limo style, which i definitely did not...

like with all prams i guess there will always be people that love them and hate them..

interesting to note that steelcraft are releasing a new pram in december, geeez i hope i don't like that better than the one i have bought...!!

the thing i like about the pram i have just bought is, i can start using it immediately for dd1, and then once the bub arrives just re-arrange things a bit....

good luck, while i am a bit freaked out about the negative reviews i have read, it is almost a relief to have made a decision as all the research and 'test drives' and talking to different people on their opinions was doing my head in!!!!!!!!!!

[Jaffaz]

Hi Emma,

I went to the shop planning to walk out with the vibe, but in the end I placed an order online for the Dash. The lady in the shop (3rd baby store I have visited trying to make up my mind) was not able to get the vibe to fold and then lock and that was without the extra seat. In the end they got the guys from out the back to come and help and three rather large men were playing with it trying to get the thing to lock in the folded position. It was important to me that the pram would lock folded as we just got a new car and I don't want to scratch the back of it. I had different issues at the other stores, so decided that if it was that difficult for trained staff who are suppost to be selling these prams then I would have no hope in a car park by myself with two kids.

I REALLY like to look of the vibe but more important, I need a user friendly pram. I am waiting for the Dash to arrive, I also ordered the wooley warm and cocoon so bubs should be nice and snug.

The bad reviews are a bit of a put off, but I do have some friends with the sport and dash who are happy so I guess the people who are happy just don't have the need to get online and write bad reviews. 1 friend of mine did end up selling her dash because she didn't like the brake and weight, but she had previously had a bugaboo and went back to that with a skate board, personal choice.

Hopefully we are both happy with our Dash, who knew buying a pram was so difficult.

Thanks everyone for your help!

[*LittleMissSummer*]

I talked to one of the girls at work and she said that the vibe is the worst out of the lot she said that the dash was the best out of them but the sport is also very good. I love the look of the phil &teds range though DP doesnt.

But i think you will be very happy with the dash

[Ellee05]

I have the vibe, I agonised over whether to spend the money on it or not and both DH and I really love the pram. Considering DD is only 8 wks old we've certainly done a lot of miles in it already. I walk almost every day for exercise and I walk to the shops probably 5 days a week. It also handled well when i broke into a jog for about 500m the other day. We've done quite a few all day shopping sprees and have travelled with it alot. Part of where I walk is dirt and gravelly and the vibe handles well (obviously a little bumpy like any pram would be). We do not have front wheel wobble but it did get a little hard to steer which I'm guessing was cos of the dirt and DH just sprayed some silicone spray where the front wheel attaches and it was good as gold again. I like that the Sun hood can be height adjusted and also adjust for angle if you're walking into the sun. I also pushed it straight through the normal isles in our local supermarket and in both kmart and target when we went away. It is easy to fold and we also have the travel bag for it as we tend to fly a fair bit. We put this to use the other day and found it really useful. I think (don't quote me)that the back rest is taller than the dash on the vibe also.

Overall we are very happy with our purchase and would get another one tomorrow if we had too. I got mine from pram warehouse online and got the toddler seat for free. Happy to answer any questions you might have.

[AndiE]

A word to the wise on anyone thinking of buying a Vibe. We bought ours last July ... I knew there had been some issues with the front wheel/steering, and asked the saleswoman at the store before we bought it if she knew of any problems, and whether or not P&T had fixed the model. Her response was "no complaints" and as far as she knew the model had no problems.

Fast track to earlier this month. We'd only used the Vibe on the odd occasion (DS1 will often walk, and if I'm out with DS2 only, I use a different pram). Anyway ... we were on holiday in Adelaide and went to the zoo for the day, and the pram was completely useless almost from the minute we got there !

The steering was shambolic - the wheel contintually went to the right, both on lock and in free-wheel mode, and when we tried to correct it, it yawed to the left. Thankfully DH was there and he pushed/steered it as it required muscle power to continually lift the front wheel up to reposition the direction of the pram. Not happy, Jan! It literally went from being ok one day, to being almost unuseable the next - not that we had a choice, we had to keep using it because our other (single child) pram was at home, in another state. Thank god for a baby bjorn and a toddler who likes to walk!

The minute we got back to Bris we took it to the store and they're fixing it (loaned us a Dash for the time being - which I haven't used yet). The woman from the store told my DH that they'd had others return their Vibe to fix the wheel and steering.

Anyway, my friendly warning ... make sure you suss out the steering issue and/or the store's repair policy. I just thank my lucky stars I didn't have this problem when I was somewhere on my own with both boys as it would have been a nightmare trying to push an almost unpushable pram.

Hopefully once ours is fixed we'll again have a user friendly pram for a baby and toddler.

Andie