Review: Bumbleride Indie Twin

Since I know that finding the right stroller, especially double stroller, is a very daunting task, I wanted to take a minute to share with you again just how much I still love our Bumbleride Indie Twin. We've been using it for about 6 months now, and it still blows us away with how happy we are with our choice. I've loaded it down with too many groceries and two 20+ pound kids, and it still pushes like a dream, and yes, still with one hand! We've just recently had to break out the foot muffs again, and they are perfect for the cooler fall days. Bumbleride also now makes a rain cover for the Indie Twin, and we purchased one a few weeks ago. It fits perfectly and is super easy to get on the stroller, making it well worth the extra $40 we paid for it. It kept the kids perfectly dry as we strolled around in the rain the other day and will be essential for keeping them warm this winter.

For those of you looking for a stroller you can jog with, I'd also like to add that this summer, we gave the Indie Twin a go on the trail through the park. With the front wheels locked, it pushed just as easily as when we walk with it. It's obviously a little harder to turn, but that is the function of the locked wheels. Any jogging stroller is difficult to maneuver with the wheels locked. It's pretty heavy to push, but again, I feel like any stroller with two kids inside is going to be pretty heavy to jog with. Eventually, I got tired of the whining from my 2-year old everytime we went out for a jog; so, we don't run with the Indie Twin any more, but it is possible.

I'm going to repost my original review from Baby Buy Products. While the Bumbleride Indie Twin may not fit your needs as perfectly as it fits ours, it's definitely worth taking one for a test spin if you're in the market for a double stroller. I can't imagine loving a stroller more.

Original review, reposted with permission from Baby Buy Products:

In January when my husband and I were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our son and feeling like we hadn’t bought anything for him, we hurried to the toy store to pick out our double stroller. We had discussed the issue thoroughly and had a mental list of all the features we needed in a double stroller. When we got to Galt Toys, the saleswoman helped us try out all of our options. The Valco Baby Runabout Twin seemed too gigantic, the Baby Jogger City Series didn’t have a very functional cargo basket, the BOB Revolution Duallie only has three wheels and we wanted the stability of four, and the Jane Powertwin nearly tipped over as we turned a corner. The Mountain Buggy Urban Double was the only stroller that seemed to fit our needs. It pushed easily, had a large basket, didn’t seem ridiculously huge, and was aesthetically pleasing. After we thought we’d made up our mind, the saleswoman asked if we could wait until mid-February because she was going to be getting a brand new side-by-side double, the Bumbleride Indie Twin. She’d been to a trade show, seen the Indie, and really thought that we would like it. We took a look at the single Indie and liked the fabric; so, we decided the give it a couple of weeks. We waited and waited for the phone call to tell us that the new strollers were in, but it never came. Two weeks before Baby Ike was due, and we felt like we couldn’t wait any longer, we returned to Galt Toys and ordered the MBUD. We had been pushing our new stroller around for a couple of weeks when Laura called me up and asked if we wanted to try out the Indie Twin. “Of course!” I said. About a week later, the Indie showed up on my front step. We’ve been test-strolling it around for a couple of weeks now, and I’m hooked. I love this stroller!

After the stroller arrived on my doorstep, I had to wait a couple of days to open the box. I am really not very mechanically inclined and my husband was out of town. It turns out that I probably could have figured out most of the assembly on my own. I apologize for not having any pictures of the assembly, but I left my husband alone for 20 minutes while I put The Princess to bed, came back and he was nearly finished with the whole process. I asked him about his concerns with the assembly. First, there was no owner’s manual in the box, but Bumbleride does have an instruction manual on their website which is what he used. His second complaint was that he had a difficult time figuring out how to unfold the chassis when he first took it out of the box. The directions on the website were not very clear and it took about 10 minutes of trial and error to figure out how to get it to work. Eventually he figured it out, and the rest of the assembly was a piece of cake considering it mostly consisted of simply installing the tires and attaching the canopies.

Out of the box, I began falling in love with the stroller. We received the Limited Edition Bwana fabric. I didn’t think that I would like it based on the online picture, but in person it’s really quite fun. The main color is navy blue with orange piping, but it’s accented with fabric covered in these funky little multi-ethnic cartoon heads. It’s very unique. “Oh, WOW!” was the comment we got today from a 3-year old boy who was swinging at the park when we showed up. It’s a reaction that I’ve never received about a stroller before, at least not from a child. The other fabric choices that Bumbleride is offering are great, too. We saw the koa in person at Galt Toys and I’m a big fan of the spice version as well.

Right away we began the test-strolling. My husband actually got to take it out for its first spin to the dry cleaners. He stuffed over two weeks of clothes into the cargo basket. He tells me it was 11 pairs of pants and 12 dress shirts! Later that weekend, I took the Indie Twin to the grocery store. I got a gallon of milk, a ½ gallon of orange juice, an 8-pack of Coke, and 5 bags of groceries in the basket. This is pretty much a standard trip to the grocery store for me, give or take. Not only was I able to transport all these groceries, but I didn’t have to do any moving of the seats to squeeze them in because the cargo basket has an awesome design. The back of the basket is cut a little shorter and slopes down to make it very easily accessible. Cargo basket usability was top on my list of needs in a double stroller, and the Indie Twin performs well in this category.

We live in a neighborhood with lots of double strollers, most of which are Mountain Buggies. Regardless, I still received lots of comments like, “Look out, there’s a double-wide coming through!” or “Wow, that’s a big stroller!” as I cruised around with my own MBUD. I haven’t once heard someone comment on the large size of the Indie Twin, or had anyone jump out of the way in fear of being run over. At the park the other day, a mom of a toddler who also had an infant just a little younger than Baby Ike inquired about the Indie. She was impressed because she felt like most double strollers were huge, but that the Indie didn’t appear to be as large. Until tonight, I didn’t really know why I was getting such a different reaction. After a little research, I discovered that both strollers are about 29” wide. The Indie Twin is actually 29.5”. Not a big difference. However, the MBUD is 42” long while the Indie Twin is only 36” long. That’s 6 inches! My husband and I both thought that it seemed like it was taking up a lot less space in the lobby of our building, and we were right. Six inches will make a big difference when we are trying to navigate crowded festivals this summer or squeeze ourselves onto a crowded el train. I’m sure our neighbors will also appreciate that we’re taking up less space in the lobby.

My husband and I have spent a lot of time talking about why we like the Indie Twin so much. My husband feels like the Indie Twin was designed by a mother with the dual purpose of wanting a stroller that was relatively easy to push, but also comfortable for her children. The Indie Twin has so many features that highlight this analogy. First, the seats have a 4-position recline. You simply pull up on a little handle behind the seat to adjust them up and down. The most upright position allows The Princess to really see where she’s going and she seems to be very comfortable. Much to my surprise, she also LOVES holding on to the bumper bar. My husband was simply trying to see how easy it was to attach, but we haven’t taken it off. The seats also lie completely flat which will definitely come in handy as Baby Ike gets a little older and we rely on the stroller for short snoozes while I’m out and about. Another way I feel that Bumbleride has really taken the comfort of the children into consideration is that the footrests are adjustable. If The Princess were to decide to take a nap in the stroller, I can lay her back and adjust the footrest so that her feet would not have to dangle down. It’s like a little bed. It’s also important to note that both of the seats are independent of one another. This means that if Baby Ike is taking a nap, and I want to adjust his footrest and canopy I can without taking away from the comfort of The Princess. And speaking of canopies, the Indie Twin’s is phenomenal! We got caught out in a rainstorm the other day. We found a dry spot to adjust the canopy over our daughter before we made a mad dash down three blocks to our building. My husband and I arrived home soaked to the skin, but The Princess had only wet feet. These canopies provide more coverage than any other stroller I’ve seen. I won’t worry about the sun at all this summer. The backs of the also have these huge pockets that you can use for storing stuff. I can get my entire wallet/purse into one. They’ll be great for storing snacks and bubbles and juice boxes this summer. You can also easily unzip and remove the canopies to remove some of the bulk if you know you’re not going to be using them. Personally, I use them when they are folded to hold things, and they work well for this purpose, too.

On to the accessories. The Bumbleride Indie Twin comes with several standard accessories: two bumper bars, a universal car seat adaptor, two foot muffs, strap covers, two headrests, a cup holder and an air pump. I’ve already spoken to how much The Princess loves the bumper bars. The foot muffs are also awesome! They are just the right weight that when the temperature is in the 40s or 50s I can put them on to block the chill, but I know that my kids won’t be completely roasting. In the winter I’ll be able to put a blanket on the kids and tuck it into the foot muff and not worry about having to stop every block and pick up the blanket that they’ve kicked onto the muddy, snowy sidewalk. The car seat adaptor is super simple to install and very easy to remove. As you can see in the picture, we tried the Indie out with The Princess’s best friend the other day, and we didn’t have to spend 30 minutes removing the car seat adaptor. It simply clicks into the same notches that the bumper bar uses, and then you buckle a seat belt over the top of the car seat to secure it in place. It’s also important to note that the car seat installs rear-facing so I can interact with Baby Ike which he has really enjoyed. The straps on the seats have covers over them to help make them more comfortable. I find them to be a real pain when I’m trying to buckle in a squirming toddler because the buckles get lost inside the fabric, but luckily they come right off. The seats also came with headrests which we also promptly removed. They just seemed too bulky and unnecessary for The Princess, but might come in handy when Baby Ike makes the transition to the regular seat. Unfortunately, the cup holder makes the stroller too wide to fit through doorways; so, we won’t be getting any use out of it, and check out the picture of the air pump. It is completely non-functional. It has to attach to the nozzle and once attached, you have to extend the locking bar so air doesn’t escape, but the locking bar can’t get fully extended because it bumps into the middle of the wheel. I wish you were sitting here listening to my husband rant about how frustrated he is with this design. In order to pump up the tires, we had to use the pump from our Mountain Buggy because it comes with a flexible tube. These are just the standard accessories. The Indie also has additional accessories available for purchase as well. There’s a plush liner for the seats, and I've been told there will soon be a rain cover which for us is a necessity. I don’t use it so much in the rain (although it sure would have come in handy the other day,) but as protection in the cold Chicago winters. My favorite accessory and the one that really makes me wish we had purchased this stroller from the beginning is the matching car seat cover. We had a pretty pink car seat for the The Princess, but then Baby Ike came along. We had to buy a new cover anyway, and it would have been awesome to have one to match the stroller. If you’ve ever priced replacement infant car seat covers, you’ll know that $59 for an attractive one is a steal. I really, really want one and have to constantly tell myself that Baby Ike doesn’t care, but if I was doing this all over, I would definitely buy one! The final additional accessory is a snack pack. These won’t be available until late May or June, and I’m not 100% certain about how they work, but seem they do seem intriguing. I'd love to try one out as well.

Other nice features of the Indie Twin are the adjustable handlebar, foot brake and sturdy four-wheel design. The handlebar adjusts using little buttons on either side of the bar. It’s very easy to move which means I don’t get frustrated when I have to readjust it after my husband has been pushing the stroller. The footbrake is super easy to lock and unlock. I even tried it with my bare foot the other day (to simulate the wearing of flip-flops in the summer) and it wasn’t too painful. The four-wheel design means I’m not at all worried about the stroller tipping over when I go up and down curbs, and the 12-inch wheels will hopefully make it easier to plow through the snow next winter.

One of the most important things for many parents is the fold and unfold of a stroller, the weight and whether or not they can fit it into their trunk. They are not necessarily at the top of our list because we rarely transport the stroller, but I know they are an important feature to consider. The Indie Twin has a multi-step fold process. You have to fold over the handlebars and disengage the seats before pulling up on the handles. However, the Indie does have handles which makes the lifting of the stroller so much easier. As for weight, the Indie is 34 pounds which is pretty much standard, give or take a pound, for side-by-side ”all-terrain” double strollers. We drive a Subaru Outback; so, we had no trouble fitting the stroller in our car, but we tried to fit the Indie in my friend’s Mitsubishi Galant, and it was also able to fit. There’s not a lot of extra room, but if you’re headed to the zoo or the mall, you can find comfort in knowing that the stroller will be able to ride along if necessary.

I’ve spent a lot of time telling you what I do like about the Indie, now I think it’s only fair to share what we don’t like. First is that it is rather difficult to push down on the handlebars and pop the front wheels off the ground. It’s not impossible, but difficult. I know many of you are thinking that this stability is a good thing, but it’s a pain when I have to go up and down a curb or in and out our front door. As I’ve pushed the stroller more, I’ve gotten it down to a system and now know how hard I have to push to navigate the curbs, and it’s definitely not a deal breaker. The Indie Twin doesn’t feel quite as solidly constructed as some of the strollers we pushed, it feels just a little more flimsy. While I don’t think my kids are uncomfortable by any means, the suspension on the Indie Twin is also somewhat stiff. They both definitely feel the bumps a little as we cruise over them. Finally, we had a small issue with the rear wheels. The original ones did not spin freely which made the stroller a little more difficult to push. However, Bumbleride was quick to send us replacements and you can definitely feel the difference. That’s it. These are the only flaws that we can come up with in regards to the Indie Twin. It really is an amazing stroller, and it’s the one our kids will now be cruising around in!

On to the official review:

Functionality *** - The Bumbleride Indie Twin is an incredibly functional stroller. The seats adjust easily and offer a full recline. I also really appreciate that each seat operates independently of the other. There are amazing amounts of usable storage space from the incredible underseat cargo basket to the large pockets on the canopies. The Indie Twin does lose one star for its multi-step fold, but its smaller dimensions make it easily transportable in a trunk.

Maneuverability *** - The Indie Twin offers a reasonably effortless push which greatly improved with our replacement tires. I’m easily able to stroll it with one hand which is all important, as you know. It is semi-difficult, to navigate curbs, but I have gotten it down to a system, and honestly this is only an issue because the base of the stroller is so stable. The smaller dimensions make it easier to maneuver in small spaces and in and out of doorways. I’m not 100% confident that I will experience the superbly easy handling of the snow that our MBUD offered this spring, but I do feel that because the Indie Twin has 12” tires, I won’t be completely cooped up next winter.

Cost *** - The Bumbleride Indie Twin is priced very similarly to the other side-by-side “all-terrain” strollers out there. For $590 you get a great stroller and many standard accessories that some of the Indie’s competitors are not offering like foot muffs, bumper bars and a car seat adaptor. The optional accessories are reasonably priced as well.

Comfort **** - This is a category which I didn’t include in my review of the MBUD. After strolling the Indie Twin we realized that the comfort of the child is a potential differentiator between strollers. Because each seat is independent of the other, I can easily adjust canopies or foot rests to meet the comfort needs of each of my children. There is not a lot of bulky fabric to heat up in the summer, and the canopies offer phenomenal coverage from the sun, rain and snow. I’ve had my toddler out in the snow this spring when I was unable to cover her with a canopy and she was not pleased. This will never be an issue with the Indie Twin. The Bumbleride does offer a suspension system and while it’s not the cushiest that I’ve felt, it does a reasonably good job of protecting my children from the jarring effects that city streets can offer.

Style **** - I really feel like Bumbleride stands out in this category. They’ve gone “outside the box” so to speak and are offering choices like koa, spice, seafoam, and of course our new favorite, the limited edition Bwana fabric.

Accessories *** - At first, my husband and I were thinking four stars in this category. Bumbleride is offering many standard accessories like the car seat adaptor, the bumper bars and the footmuffs which are very functional. They also have a variety of optional accessories to help you customize the stroller to fit your needs. But, they do lose a star for the completely non-functional air pump. (OK, maybe a little harsh, but you should listen to my husband complain about it!)

Overall rating ***1/2 – As I’ve said before, the Bumbleride Indie Twin really is a stand-out stroller option for those who are looking for an “all-terrain” double stroller. It has effortlessly handled the city streets, and I’m confident that I’m not sacrificing the comfort of my children for my own ease of strolling. It’s very reasonably priced as far as strollers in this category go, especially considering the number of standard accessories that are included. I love that it has a unique look that distinguishes it from all those red, black and navy strollers out there as well. As with any of the side-by-side “all-terrain” strollers, I’m not sure that the Indie Twin is the best option if you’re simply storing it in your trunk for use at the mall, but if you’re planning on using it on a day-to-day basis, I would definitely recommend giving the Bumbleride Indie Twin a stroll!