Ok, so great news…I’m having a baby, well, my wife is at least. I’m just kinda the cheer leader for now. In any event, we are looking at running strollers and I told her I want a stroller that will hold up to the stresses of long distance road running and training. She proceeds to give me recommendations from her friends who already have children. The only problem is that her friends have never run any longer than the mandatory mile in gym class and the only lifting they do is the cupcake to their mouths. So, as an Ironman myself, I want to hear from other Ironmen and hardcore triathletes with children about which stroller they use for their long distance training. Thanks.
I have a Baby Trend single and a Baby Jogger triple. I have put hundreds of miles on both over the past three years and both have held up amazingly well. Some people will tell you you need one with a pivoting wheel up front, which is probably good for the mall, but won’t make any difference when you are actually running. I don’t think the extra money of a big name brand with a pivoting wheel and tons of bells and whistles is worth it, but that’s just my experience. Let me know what you go with.
yup, for running, definitely go with a fixed front wheel. also, i have never used this, but it sure looks pretty amazing:
I use the Baby Jogger with 20" wheels and it’s great. My daughter loves riding in it and it seems well built.
I’ve put many miles on a BOB revolution with my daughter and really like it. It also works well as a normal stroller, and we have taken it on trips to Europe, South America and all through the US. I typically let the front wheel swivel, but you can fix it as well.
Not having the swiveling front wheel option would limit the use severely in my opinion…
We used the BOB with the childseat adapter, which worked well. Otherwise you have to wait until your baby is able to keep his/her head up.
Having said that, if we have another kid soon, I’ll get a double Chariot, since it will work as a jogger and bike trailer, and it actually felt smoother running than the BOB.
There are several threads here about this topic, and these two brands (and baby jogger) seem to get a lot of positive reviews. Just do a search.
Investing in stuff that lets me workout with my kid has worked well for me as we get to spend some fun time together, mom gets a break, and I get to work out. I even get encouraged to work out (which was the opposite before…)
Another great gadget is the iBert child seat for biking.
Congratulations.
great thread…I am looking for one as well…thanks
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My wife and I had twins the year after I started racing. We purchased a stroller from Trek that was great. You could run with it, then swap out the front wheel for an attachment, and tow it behind your bike too. I pushed my girls to sleep in it on many occasions:) Fond memories, lot’s of work. Used it right up until the time they started riding their own bikes with training wheels when they were 4 or so. Came with a bug screen, and a solid cover for cooler or damp weather. I even added a bike computer to it. I’m sure Trek still makes something similar.
Get the performance baby jogger with 20 inch wheels. We have thousands of miles on both the double and the single. if you want one to take on trips or to the mall many others will be better. If you wants one for running it is the best I have seen. The BOB one does not compare but does say ironman on it.
Thank you all for your responses. They have been very helpful. Please keep them coming.
The only problem is that her friends have never run any longer than the mandatory mile in gym class and the only lifting they do is the cupcake to their mouths. So, as an Ironman myself…
I bet her friends just love you!
Congrats on the new baby.
Friends of mine love their Chariot. It has different attachments so you can change it up from a stoller, to a jogging stroller, to a bike trailer, to a xcountry ski trailer. So if you’re an active family it may be a great 1-stop option. I know that you can buy a “sling” mount for it that you can use with young babies but have no idea if it’s safe to actually run with a young one who can’t yet control their head. I’m secretly hoping my friends have Baby #2 before I have Baby #1 so I can buy their Chariot off of them at a discount as they’ve already said they’ll be upgrading to the 2-seater Chariot. 
x3 on the Chariot. Solid as a rock, smooth ride, versatile, easy to push. This is the way to go, especially if you want to bike with them too. They’re pricey but worth it.
Congrats on the child, but be prepared, it’s really hard to fit workouts in during the first few months. I underestimated how much time a baby actually consumes from birth to 3 months. After that, you’re actually pretty good to go until they get to serious crawling, and having the baby jogger can be sweet because it puts them to sleep and gives Mom a break. My BIL got in the best shape of his life the summer his daughter was an infant. Once she became a toddler it got tough again because weekends were spent doing her things, not his.
We love our BOB Revolution!
I’m gonna throw in for Chariot also. Granted I rep them but man are they cool. The Cx is the triathlete’s dream: Every Gadget available. I want one and I don’t have any kids…
But the kicker for a Triathlete is the ease of going on a bike to a run to a basic stroller and having all of the parts there for use. Plus you can ride to the store and not have to secure the trailer outside. Push a button here, pull a pin there and you are in stroller mode. And not a jog stroller (which you can do) but a stroller that works in stores well.
Congrats! I do not know about the other brands but we are going on 2.5 years with the BOB Ironman stroller. Started at six months. He loves going for runs and we have many 2 plus hour runs under our belts. Its been a great investment for me. If you get the BOB, purchase the sheepskin insert for when it gets cooler… I did not want to do the child behind the bike thing, so that flexibility factor was not an issue…
Our active social network collectively purchased a Chariot SL for us and we love it. The running kit conversion doubles as a great stroller in the snow, the ski kit means we can still hit the trails (even skate skiing is a blast) and the cycling kit will soon be put to use.
Ya, Chariot! Plus once you get the bike kit, you can hook it up to any bike, tri bike included.
Here’s something crushing too … granted I’m early season and not in top form, but some show-off pushing a single passenger Chariot with a baby inside (I assume it was not a concealed motor) passed us at 8km into the Grimsby Half Marathon a couple weeks back. We caught him after he took a porta-potty break at around 13km in and he proceded to retake his lead and was never caught by us. Just for reference, I did a 1:44.
As a rep for Chariot, can you give me some additional feedback on how early I can start using the jogging stroller option with an infant? Can you adapt it to put an infant car seat so that you can use it early?
Anyone out there use the Chariot eraly with additonal supports in place for the infant who can’t hold it’s head up yet?
I like the baby jogger myself…are you in Ca? If so, I have one for cheaps!
I don’t work for Chariot nor am I a pediatrician, but if your child is young enough so as to not be able to hold his or her hear up do you really think it’s wise to subject him/her to all that vibration?
I’d just wait. It’s only a few months…