Availability: Widely available
Average Cost: $129-150
Manufacturer: http://www.chiccousa.com
Rating:

I’ve always been a little bit hesitant to buy a lightweight compact stroller as the ones I’ve test-driven in stores have felt flimsy and were difficult to push due to short handles and low backs that caused my feet to bump into the frame with every step I took. This whole class of strollers has always seemed like they were trying to do too much without excelling at anything.

The Trevi is a lightweight stroller of a different breed. It tries hard and excels in most areas with very few things to nitpick about. It has quickly pushed both my lightweight umbrella stroller and “all terrain” stroller into the closet as I seldom feel the need for them. And at the $150 price point, you’d have to go to about twice the price to get anything better.

AESTHETIC

The Trevi comes in four color schemes that you can see to the right. Race (red and tan- shown in this article), “Atmosphere” (dusty blue and tan), “Adventure” (dusty green and dark gray) and “Extreme” (gray and orange).

I chose the “Race”, as I favor brightly colored strollers for safety reasons. I was a bit surprised when I unpacked the stroller because I was expecting a darker red because of the way my monitor showed the picture of the Trevi (LCD monitors are infamous for their inaccurate color). The red is very bright with a bit of an orange hue to it, the arm-rest pads and leg pad, rear pocket and part of the canopy are tan with white piping, while the headrest and strap pads are an off-white. I love it because it’s a quirky color scheme that stands out at the playground, making it easy to pick out of the lineup at the busy park that I frequent.

The Chicco logo appears on the side of the canopy, the front of the tray, and on the headrest. The Trevi logo appears on each side of the armrest. The logos (Both “Chicco” and “Trevi”) are tastefully sized and non-obtrusive despite the number of places in which they appear.

ASSEMBLY

You’ll want to air this stroller out a bit as it has a very “new” smell when you first take it out of the box. Nothing overpowering, it just smells a bit like a new bicycle.

In the box you will find four wheel sets, the stroller body, the canopy, the parent cup holder and the front tray which has three snack compartments. A bilingual (English/Spanish) manual is included and no tools are needed for assembly as everything clicks into place.

The instruction manual is of good quality with accurate instructions and clear black and white line illustrations that are supplemented with red directional arrows where needed. As you can see in the image to the left, which shows the installation of the front wheels, the illustrations are quite clear. The instructions were easy to follow and the process is dummy-proof in that if you try to install a part the wrong way, it simply doesn’t work (even if you try to force it).

I had a few moments of confusion with the front wheels because I had accidentally engaged the swivel locking mechanism on one set of wheels before trying to put it on. When the swivel lock is engaged, it prevents the wheels from snapping on. After trying a few different things (including flipping the wheel set upside down and trying unsuccessfully to install it that way) I took a closer look, realized my mistake, and released the lock which allowed the wheels to easily snap into place.

The second instance of confusion came when trying to install the cup holder. It is very rigid at first and the only way I could get it on was to ignore the instructions and press the opening directly against the front of the leg (where it is at its narrowest) forcing it on and then rotating it into place. It required quite a bit of force the first time I attached it, but the good news is that it’s extremely rugged and doesn’t break easily.

Despite those two minor glitches in the setup process, this stroller is very easy to figure out even without the instruction manual, and there are really only four steps to the assembly: 1- snap on wheels 2- unfold stroller 3- slide on canopy and zip it up, 4- snap on tray & cup holder. It’s always a good idea to read the manual just to make sure you know how everything works, of course.

HANDLEBARS & HEIGHT

The handlebars are gently curved inwards for an ergonomic feel and offer large comfortable foam grips similar to that used on bicycles. The foam is a high quality dense foam with a slick “sealed” feel to it, and not the cheaper foam that tends to fall apart and stick to your hands in warm weather. The foam offers a nice padded slip-free grip.

At their highest point these handlebars are a generous 41″ off the ground. The long handles, backward tilt of the frame, the elevated under-basket and high chassis of this stroller make it a pleasure to push. This is a very welcome change from the multitude of strollers on the market that seem to have been designed intentionally to require parents to walk like their shoe laces have been tied together. Neither my husband nor I have trouble pushing this stroller and we’re on the tall and short sides of the height range. Even those with long legs had no issues pushing this stroller around easily without kicking the frame.

BRAKES

When I first started using the brakes, I was concerned that they may be fragile because they worked almost too smoothly. The brakes are very easy to engage without requiring that you rock the stroller first. They are also very easy to disengage (but unlikely to accidentally come unset). Unlike the brakes I’ve become accustomed to, activating and releasing these brakes will not damage your shoes.

I took a closer look to learn more about the parking brake mechanism and to make sure that it wasn’t likely to break with frequent use. It consists of two rear brakes that operate independently for increased safety (if one brake were to fail or be jarred loose, the other brake would still hold - good design). Each brake is made of a single piece of thick rugged plastic that locks into the notched inner wheels in three individual places: a notch on each of the double wheels that make up a single rear wheel set, and a notch in the center of that wheel frame. (See picture to the left) Because of this design, multiple pieces of the brake system would need to fail in order for a single brake to come loose.

FOLDING MECHANISM

To fold the stroller you press down (or step down) on the lever that sticks out to the right side of the stroller, and pull up on the gray handle that is in the center of the stroller. It is virtually impossible to fold the stroller accidentally, yet it is one of the smoothest folding mechanisms that I have had the pleasure of experiencing. This is not a stroller that you need to manhandle to open and close. Everything works smoothly as it should. The Trevi has a self-locking mechanism which allows you to simply fold the stroller down to the ground, press slightly, and pick it up perfectly folded. Between the single-hand fold and self locking, you can easily hold a squirming toddler in one arm while folding the stroller quickly in the other.

All of the parts involved in folding and locking the stroller seem rugged and well made of either metal or a thick plastic. I’m not concerned in the least about breakage or even much wear and tear.

RECLINE

The Trevi’s recline can be operated with a single hand to both raise and lower the seat into five different positions. It operates smoothly, although sometimes it insists that you raise the seat up a little bit before it will allow you to recline it. This is probably a good thing as it prevents the seat from accidentally falling. It locks easily into place in each of the five positions and goes from being a comfortable fully upright position to an almost flat recline which is wonderful for naps. In my previous strollers I couldn’t operate the recline with a single hand, nor could I often successfully recline my daughter or son once they had fallen asleep. The Trevi is so smooth that I can raise and lower the seat without waking my sleeping child.

The recline mechanism is a little bit less “industrial strength” than the rest of the stroller, but still gives off a “well made” feeling that makes me confident that it’s not going to break.

THE SEAT

The seat is made of that plasticized canvas that almost every stroller is made of, with soft fabric padding. Unfortunately none of this is removable for washing and you may find yourself frustrated with spills and crumbs. I haven’t found it to be too difficult to clean yet as the canvas of the seat is easy to wipe clean with a sponge, and the fabric parts of the seat are largely in areas that aren’t prone to becoming too dirty. The best policy is maintaining the stroller with quick wipe-downs rather than letting any mess get too far out of control.

THE TRAY

The tray attaches easily to the front of the Trevi with a quick push on either side. It attaches firmly and resists being pulled out of place unless the tabs on the underside are pressed down for removal. (Note: Be sure that no fabric is poking into the area where the tray attaches otherwise it will pull out easily.) The tray has three compartments that can be used as snack holders or as a sippy cup holder for a standard sized sippy. My favorite thing about this tray is that it doesn’t need to be removed when you fold the stroller, it collapses as well. While this tray isn’t unique in the lightweight market, it is somewhat hard to find, especially done this well and at this price point.

5 POINT HARNESS

The five point harness is made of rugged nylon webbing and plastic buckles. The buckles adjust easily without too much tugging and stays in place without slipping. There are soft pads that can slide down over the buckles once they have been adjusted, or can be removed. The pads give the whole thing a nice neat look and increase the comfort for your child by padding the place where the harness will create the most pressure against your child during sudden stops. The pads are stitched shut rather than using velcro or snaps, which means your child won’t be able to simply remove them and toss them overboard.

The shoulder straps easily open to allow you to remove your child’s jacket or even lift the child out of the stroller easily without having to thread their arms through the loop of the strap. This is great for being able to easily move a sleeping child from the stroller to his crib. The mechanism that attaches the over-shoulder straps to the waist strap is unique. Rather than using hard plastic clips, the Trevi shoulder straps end in a contoured loop of plastic that slips over the three-prong closure on each side of the waist buckle. This is easier to use than other systems that I’ve seen, yet doesn’t increase the risk of your child removing the straps himself.

The strap that goes between your child’s legs is a bit on the short side. It has a wrap-over velcro closure fabric cover that closes between the buckle and your baby’s body. This unique arrangement seems to be to keep older children from opening the buckles. Invaluable if your child tries to open everything, annoying if not.

LEG & FOOT REST

The padded leg rest is adjustable to two positions: locked flat (straight out) or locked down (bent at an angle). It is nicely padded and easy to adjust. The triggers for adjustment are well made and don’t feel like they’ll break easily with use.

The foot rest is a thick flexible plastic strap similar to those used in umbrella strollers. It is well made and we have frequently used it as a “lift” strap for carrying a fully loaded stroller up and down stairs. (Probably not the safest of uses, but a very common one.) It shows no likelihood of tearing.

ACCESSORIES

The Trevi comes with a cup holder that snaps onto the frame for an adult drink, an medium-size elasticized pouch on the back for holding a few items, an over sized easy access under basket, a canopy with a tinted window for visibility, and a flip-down tinted plastic sun visor.

UNDER-BASKET

When the seat is fully upright, the under-basket of the stroller is very easy to access and you can just about drop a fully loaded diaper bag into the bottom without having to bend down or hold the seat out of the way. When the seat is reclined the basket becomes almost “no access” due to the self-locking mechanism on the side and the folding mechanism on the back which leaves you with only minimal access to the basket along one side (barely enough room to get a hand through). I’ve found that this doesn’t interfere too much, though, because the smooth operation of the recline allows me to quickly lift the seat up to access the basket and then lower it back into the reclined position. I have yet to wake up either my son or daughter while doing this.

The basket is well made of mesh and generously sized for the “lightweight compact stroller” category. It will feel like it’s on the small side if you’re used to a “full sized” stroller, but if you’re coming from the smaller end of the spectrum you’ll find it quite roomy.

The basket is supported on the underside by metal cross bars. (One thing to be careful of is that you don’t casually toss a glass jar of baby food into the basket, as it may break against the bars.)

CANOPY

The canopy affixes to the back of the stroller by sliding a tab on each side into a groove on the frame of the stroller. The back of the canopy can zip onto the stroller for added weather protection or it can open up to allow more air to flow through the stroller during warmer months.

The canopy functions quite well for overhead sun when your child is reclined. It has a darkly tinted peekaboo window for viewing your child while blocking out UV rays and harsh sunlight. It also has a flip-down sun visor which helps block some front-angled sun.

When the seat is in its most upright position, the canopy only extends 7″ past the seat at its deepest measurement. This makes it largely useless for sun and weather protection… a common fault in this class of strollers that isn’t unique to the Trevi. It makes one wonder why the manufacturer even bothers with the canopy. Although it does provide a support for attaching a weather cover accessory or extra sun shade, from third party manufacturers, this is a clumsy work-around.

The back of the canopy has a pouch with an elastic top that is great for holding your sunglasses, mittens, keys or other small items. The elastic keeps items from falling out easily, but leaves the pouch open for quick access.

TIRES

The tires of the Trevi are double 8” thick rubber air-free tires. The rubber provides a bit of extra bounce without the added maintenance of air-filled tires. The functionality of the tires lays somewhere in-between the rigid jarring feeling of the hard plastic tires and bouncier ride of air filled tires… A bit closer to the “jarring” end of the spectrum unfortunately.

Everything is a trade-off, however, and I discovered a really good reason to have tires that don’t require air when I ran over a nail that was 1 1/2 inches long. The nail embedded itself in the tire, hit the inner rim of the tire, and bent. I didn’t notice it until I brought the stroller out the next day. I pulled the nail out aghast at how long it was, and the hole that it had created immediately disappeared as the dense rubber closed back in on where it had been. Had this happened to my all-terrain stroller with its inflatable wheels I would have noticed immediately as the tire would have exploded and I would have had to push it home on two wheels to avoid damaging the rim, and order a replacement tire. Assuming I could even find one on the manufacturers website.

The tires have a light tread pattern and will likely last a very long time before they wear down to the point of needing replacement.

HANDLING

This is not a stroller for single-handed use. With a 30lb toddler in the stroller, it becomes a bit “set in its ways” and does not like to turn very easily. This is not to say that it is difficult to turn, just a little bit less responsive than average. Single hand operation is uncomfortable and unresponsive.

Despite its rigidity and high center of gravity, it is very tip resistant and even requires a quick wrist pull-back motion to traverse a standard curb. This nearly impossible to tip design gives one peace of mind as it won’t fall over accidentally - even if you ignore the manufacturer’s commonsense warning to not put bags on the back of the stroller. (A warning that is best to heed, but that most of us occasionally ignore.)

This stroller handles very well in snow and slush up to about just over half the height of its wheels (so about 4-5in.) above that it starts to skid around a bit. This is quite impressive as most strollers become useless with much less snow on the ground, including jogging strollers with much larger wheels.

Rain, puddles, and ice are of no concern. This is not a stroller prone to slipping and sliding. And its mostly tipless design makes it a wonderful winter-safe stroller, as it won’t fall over easily even while you are slipping on the ice.

QUALITY & DURABILITY

The best way to describe this stroller would be to compare it to an old fashioned army jeep (Not to be confused with a Jeep brand car or stroller for that matter). Everything on this stroller has a great “built to last” feeling, despite its belonging to the lightweight category.

SPECIFICATIONS & MEASUREMENTS

Weighing in at 19lbs, the Trevi is about middle-of-the-pack for weight in its class, and I wouldn’t trade in an ounce because those extra ounces come from some of my favorite aspects of the stroller, its stability and rugged double wheels.

When folded and laying flat on the ground the Trevi is roughly 15″ deep (largest width measurement which is across the canopy) 16″ tall (largest measurement from the ground up) and 45″ long from tire to handles. When free-standing the 16″ measurement expands to 21″ as the self-closing latch has some give to it. This feature helps the stroller fold without removing a bunting bag, blanket, or child’s jacket.

Tested out at the Gruntlings office, we were able to leave a JJCole, B212E or a Kozyroo inside this stroller when folded. Most bunting bags should fit, although some of the bulkier ones make the “self close” mechanism turn into a bit more of a “push closed” mechanism. Also worth noting is that thicker bags maxed out the length on the strap system. This is a problem that seriously needs correcting.

While speaking of the straps, they can adjust with the height of your child by moving from a lower position suitable for smaller children to a higher second position. However you may still find that your child quickly outgrows these straps.

When deployed, the Trevi is approximately 21 1/2″ across the back wheels by 28″ from rear wheel to front wheel if the tires are swung inwards and locked or 31″ if swung outwards and locked. It is 41″ tall from the ground to the top of the handles. The compact footprint make this stroller ideal for navigating tight aisles in stores or on trains/buses where this stroller is actually narrow enough to use in most aisles and compact enough to store easily in overhead bins.

The seat is slightly on the narrow side at 13″ across (inner dimensions), but this is common in lightweight strollers and easily fits my 3T daughter, thick bunting bag, and bulky down coat or snowsuit with room to spare for an extra blanket.

It’s very easy to store this stroller because of the umbrella fold. Two things that you might want to do to make it even easier to store, is lock the brakes for added stability, and make sure that the seat is in fully upright position before folding.

AGE FOR USE

The Trevi pairs up with the KeyFit infant car seat to make a travel system that accommodates babies from 4-30lbs and that works for even the tiniest of babies with its wide weight range and comfy padded infant insert. The KeyFit car seat also has some great safety features that I wish came in other car seats - like a “leveling foot” which does away with the old “rolled up blanket” trick. The whole thing, stroller plus car seat weighs in at only 28lbs.

The adjustable harness height and size and full recline make it so that it can actually fit younger children safely as opposed to a lot of strollers whose harnesses are quite loose on babies up to a year old.

CONCLUSION

This is a sturdy little stroller whose ruggedness and stability belie its 19lb featherweight and super-compact frame. Unique in its class for any number of reasons, Gruntlings wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this stroller to anyone looking to purchase a single stroller that can meet multiple needs. Of all the strollers we have tested, this one comes the closest to being that holy grail of the “One stroller that does everything without breaking the bank”.