Kelty Deuce Swivel Review
We bought this stroller because it has a height adjustable handle and is very lightweight for a double. It fits my tall husband quite well. The way it handles is 4 stars, but aesthetic reasons plus the folding process knock it to 2. So, 3 stars overall. I’ll start with the cons so you know how you might improve the stroller. Note that many of the cons are just aesthetic in nature, and there are many pros I’ll get to eventually, too!
The footrest is cloth-like material (with some white near it) that could get dirty. You need not have a heavy plastic footrest, but a vinyl material by the feet would have made me feel MUCH better about my purchase. Imagine muddy shoes and wet snow boots. The black material in the seats collects dust as well, from day one.
There are not independent sunshades for each child. On a high-end stroller that’s becoming the norm. The sunshade sticks up when not in use, and it’s very high. This slows me down.
The footrest is very narrow and poorly designed in that two (older) kids cannot easily rest their feet, and my almost 3-year-old has his feet hang slightly off the side. Again, most high-end strollers have better, individual footrests.
In locked mode I could not turn the stroller by pushing down on the handle (whew, it was tough and I tried!). I feel I’d break the handle or my back before I could lift the front wheel up. I can push my foot onto the back bar to 'pop a wheelie' if I must turn on locked mode, but that’s very difficult. I jog in swivel mode, and I’m slow. I can’t imagine using locked mode unless you are on a perfectly straight path (which is rare!).
Folding/unfolding is not the easiest. It involves a lot of bending over and unhooking lock clips, and some parts look dangerous for fingers with pinch hazards. The yellow clamps look like they could catch my skin when I lock them into place, and I am terrified of this happening.
My biggest complaint is that when folded, it does not stand up. It can rest on the handle and back wheels, which takes up lots of space and could damage the handle material. Also, the fold/unfold process is sloppy in that I worry about scraping the stroller on the ground. I need a stroller that folds/unfolds with ONE hand in a trigger style, like many of them available today. I also want to be able to carry it easily. This stroller is difficult to carry. There are no good grasp points, and it won’t stay folded totally.
The soft padding on the handle could be higher quality and thicker.
In addition, the bug/sun/rain nets go over the footrest, so since my child's feet hang over a bit, I don't see how those nets would stay secured unless you had kids under 2 in it.
But, considering we needed a stroller that worked for tall parents, and that the swivel mode is easy to push for jogging, this stroller works for us. I would never take it to a mall, just for jogging or walks in the neighborhood. No jogger is lightweight, but this one is quite light for a double. This stroller is a keeper for us. We've tried them all!
The pros are (and these are very important to us) that I can jog on swivel mode (I'm not fast), it was easy to put together, the harness is comfy and easy to use, the sunshade is awesome and goes down quite far, and it reasonably fits my 3-year-old (38 lbs., 40 inches) with room to grow, just not so much with his feet. It also perfectly fits my 19 month-old.
Thank you!
