Average Cost: $150-200
Official URL: http://www.mutsy.com
Rating:

The Mutsy Spider falls into a class that I can best categorize as a “cross-over” stroller. Its weight puts it firmly in the lightweight stroller class, it has the three wheel design and suspension of a jogging stroller, and it folds down to the size and shape of a backpack. Intrigued yet? You should be.

FEATURES

In addition to the unique cross-over features the Spider has a reclining seat, the ability to affix an infant car seat (Graco) to turn it into a complete travel system, a wide sun canopy, a comfortable headrest, a two-position height-adjustable 5 point harness, an under-seat cargo basket, a carry handle, a padded seat, and a quick-locking brake mechanism that locks the two rear wheels with one motion.

AESTHETIC

The Spider is very modern/chic with its thick metal frame, a funky look and high quality parts. It comes in a variety of colors including black, bright blue, green, pink, ocean and red. (Pictured to the right)

This is one of the strollers where the British term “Push Chair” really seems to apply. Its open design and the headrest give it a very distinct feeling of being a padded chair on wheels.

The spider will fit in well with the Madison Avenue crowd, and has been spotted in many trendy boutique baby shops.

ASSEMBLY

The Spider has a 5 minute setup that boils down to three steps: 1- Snap on rear wheels and front wheel set, 2- Unfold, 3- Snap on canopy. It’s all very easy and straightforward and can be done by looking at the illustrations in the manual. Not many strollers are that easy to set up.

HEIGHT/HANDLEBARS

The single padded handlebar is probably my favorite feature. It has one metal locking clip on either side that can be opened to extend the handlebar by almost 8″ bringing the height of the handlebar from 37″ to 43″. (This is not flawed math. The handlebar extends along an incline which gives you extra clearance as well as extra height.) At its lowest position the back of the handlebar and the back of the rear wheels are flush which makes it easy to back it out of the way up against a wall or turn around in tight spaces.

The padding on the handlebar seems to be a sealed foam that is very durable, very comfortable, is not prone to ripping or compression, does not absorb (or cause) sweat and does not slip easily from your grasp.

The single-bar design makes pushing extremely comfortable as you have a wide area to grasp. It also makes it even more easy to push single-handedly as you can grasp the bar at the center which makes for much easier one-handed turning.

Clearance: Clearance is important because it is what determines if you will kick the back of the stroller, bottom-out on curbs and other such things. We test this by backing the stroller up against a wall and using a measuring tape to determine how many inches of clearance there are to a variety of points on the back of the stroller.

When the Spider’s handlebar is fully extended you have 6″ of clearance from the handlebars to the back of the wheels, 10 1/2″ to bottom center point of the stroller which is the underside of basket, and 7″ to the brakes. This clearance is made even more ample by the 18 1/2″ of clearance between brakes, and the 24″ between wheels.

When handlebar is collapsed clearance changes to: 0″ at the wheels, 2″ at brakes and 7″ at basket. Because of the wide rear wheel base it’s comfortable to push even when the handlebar is collapsed. It’s almost impossible for a person of any height to end up kicking the back of this stroller while walking.

BRAKES

The braking mechanism on the Spider is pretty standard. On each back wheel is a foot pedal that presses a bar into the notches on the cog on the inside of the wheel which prevents the wheel from turning. A cable running from one brake makes it so that when one brake is activated or released the brake on the other side follows suit. This single-action brake is similar to the parking brake on jogging strollers.

While I usually prefer independent brakes for safety reasons, this brake mechanism doesn’t concern me at all. The foot pedal that operates the brakes is wide but shallow which makes it unlikely to be accidentally released with a bump. It also requires a significant amount of upward pressure to release which makes it quite safe. Because the cable mechanism works off of the lever, if an individual brake were to snap off it would not result in the second brake opening at the same time.

The wheels are made of gray plastic with sealed rims. They have a solid airless rubber surface similar to the rubber used in or bicycle wheels which makes them very long-wearing. Unlike many strollers that have airless wheels, the Spider does not make a racket when you wheel it over hard/uneven surfaces. The only downside to the wheels is that they can mark up surfaces such as linoleum or tile. I have never had this happen, but it’s mentioned as a possibility in the user manual.

The front wheels are a double wheel set for stability and the rear wheels are singles which makes for easier maneuvering and which also makes for a super-wide wheel base that makes the Spider a very comfortable stroller to push. The wheels are 6″ (front wheels) and 6 1/2″ (rear wheels). All of the individual tires are about 1 1/2″ wide, and the front wheelset is 5 1/2″ from the outside of one wheel to the outside of the other.

Generally the tires handle bumps and uneven pavement very well and do not slip or slide on wet pavement or ice. This stroller performs poorly in snow or slush that is over 2″ deep.

SUSPENSION

The suspension mechanism on the Spider is one of the strangest and most interesting mechanisms I have come across. Most suspension systems are horizontal and rely on two tubes that move within each other. With the Spider the suspension seems to be both horizontal and vertical and the entire frame moves in a very organic fashion much like the spider that it is named after.

The suspension is at its best when you are on severely uneven ground such as cobblestones, broken pavement and potholes and other obstacle-courses of uneven ground. In this type of scenario the ride remains very smooth for the baby, and the handlebar stays very level for the parent that is pushing the stroller. This is a great safety feature because with a regular stroller, even a regular stroller with suspension, the handlebars are often at two different heights when one wheel runs into a dip or bump. This can be hard for the parent to control as they have to try to lift one side up to prevent the stroller from tipping over. The spider seems to be able to handle its rear wheels being at heights of 2-3″ difference without much difficulty.

Unfortunately the suspension is at its worst when you try to maneuver over curbs or up and down small flights of steps. When you do this the suspension causes the entire rear wheel set to compress as the Spider tries to “walk” down the stairs. This throws it off balance and the frame of the stroller flexes to such a large degree that I always become concerned about breakage.

An interesting side effect of the suspension system is that if you push the front tires up against a wall, the entire stroller flexes forward and becomes more compact. This is great for when you’re trying to do a three-point turn in tight spaces. If the Spider’s rear wheel span can fit into a space, it can turn around in that space.

SEAT & PAD

The seat offers a generous sitting area that is 11″ wide across the back of the seat, and 10″ deep with an adjustable leg rest that extends the seat to 15″ for younger children. The back of the seat is 13 1/2″ tall and a headrest extends this to 19″.

The seat on the Spider has a rigid construction that feels more substantial than most strollers that are “hammock” style. It is very well padded with a non-removable cover. The seat has a vertical white stripe that runs down the center and that contains the Spider logo.

The canvas is easy to clean with a wet cloth and the black seat is virtually impervious to staining. Other colors may be more prone to staining and discoloration although the material that Mutsy uses seems to resist staining even in the white areas on the seat cover.

FOOTREST

The footrest is a bit on the small side which makes it easy to tuck out of the way when necessary. Despite its small size it will comfortably fit the feet of a toddler or even a pre-schooler. It can lock into two positions: up (out of the way) or down (for use).

HARNESS

The harness on this stroller is a five point harness. The harness has two removable shoulder pads and the crotch strap is well padded with a lip that extends past the buckle to help prevent pinching when you’re strapping your child in.

The shoulder straps are closely spaced at 3 1/2″ apart, this makes it very easy to fit a smaller child, and it makes sure that the straps stay in place over the shoulders of a squirmy toddler.

All three of the straps offer a huge range of adjustment and can accommodate tiny babies up to preschoolers that are in bunting bags. These straps are some of the most adjustable straps that I’ve seen in a stroller and will be well appreciated in the winter months.

The shoulder straps adjust from 9″ to 16″ and have two strap paths to accommodate your child’s growth. The first is located at 10 1/2″ above the seat, and the second is located at 12 1/2″.

The waist belt straps adjust from 7 1/2″ to 12″ and is attached to the seat in two places that are 3 1/2″ apart.

The crotch strap adjusts from 6″ to 8 1/2″ and is located 5 1/2″ from the back of the seat.

BASKET

The basket is a triangle with a 13″ wide back and 14″ long sides. The sides are all 2 1/2″ tall. The basket is probably the weakest feature of the spider, as its a slightly difficult shape to work with, and the sides are all so short that items can easily bounce their way out of the basket. No storage is offered other than the under-seat basket and the wide single handlebar is often too wide for most diaper bags to hang from.

CANOPY

The canopy is not one of the more functional canopies as it doesn’t rotate down to offer protection at other angles and is only 1 foot deep and 17″ across at its widest. It only blocks sunlight from directly overhead. However, it is made of a thicker fabric than many canopies and because of this it probably offers a greater degree of UV protection.

The canopy offers a generous 23″ of clearance from the seat which will allow even taller children to ride comfortably in this stroller.

the short depth and wide shape of the canopy mean that it doesn’t work well with add-on sun canopies.

FOLDING & STORAGE

“Spider” is a very apt name for this stroller. The first time you unfold it you’ll laugh and say “That’s where the name came from!”

The folding process is really only three steps. First you pull a lever that is located to the left of the seat pad (when you are standing behind the stroller). This releases the bottom of the seat which then folds up to reveal a second lever. You pull this slightly up and away from you and the entire stroller collapses into a bundle that is approximately the size and shape of a backpack. Once it is folded you’ll want to manually fasten the strap that holds the whole thing loosely closed. You’ll find this on the left side of the basket, it attaches to velcro on the basket. Just pull it off, thread it through the frame and clip it together. If you carry it by the handle it will stay closed without the strap. This can be very handy on public transportation as it reduces the number of steps to two and can easily be done with one hand. It’s also wonderful for use with bunting bags because you can fit the entire thing in the stroller when folded and not worry about stressing the latch.

ACCESSORIES

Harness pads, shopping basket and canopy are included. A coordinated diaper bag, a carry bag, and rain canopy are available separately for purchase.

SPECIFICATIONS

FOLDED DIMENSIONS: 19″ wide (across canopy), 14″ high (at wheel), and 29 1/2″L from bottom of frame to top of canopy.

DEPLOYED DIMENSIONS: 43″ at center of handlebars when fully extended, 37″ when collapsed. 40″ at top of canopy. 28″ deep from front wheel (straight) to back of handlebars when collapsed. 33″ when fully extended. 27″ wide across rear wheels

WEIGHT: The Spider weighs 19.8lbs.

THE MANUAL

The manual is 38 pages long and provides instructions in 7 languages including English, French, Spanish and Italian. The “English” section is only 4 pages long. The manual is illustrated with grayscale diagrams that make use of orange arrows to show direction, and green to show which parts are involved in the instructions. It is very easy to follow although it does require you to flip back and forth between the text and the illustrations, as all of the illustrations are at the front of the book to avoid having to duplicate them across 7 languages. Regardless, full setup can be done easily from just looking at the pictures alone and the accompanying text is more for reference than anything else.

The manual covers Warnings, Tips on maintenance, Summary of parts, Assembly, Folding out the Spider frame, The wheels, The sun canopy, Securing your child, Adjusting the back support, Adjusting the foot rest, Adjusting the height of the push bar, Folding the frame, The steering system, The brake, transporting and storing the Spider frame, and Fitting and removing the frame adapters for car seats.

The manual is available online after registration which requires that you have the serial number and production date of your stroller handy. This information can be found underneath the seat of your stroller. Registering is a bit of an annoyance considering you have to repeat the process with each product that you own, however this could be valuable for you as the manufacturer can contact you about any recalls related to your product.

ABOUT MUTSY

Mutsy is a Dutch company that has been making strollers since 1937. In addition to making trendy cutting-edge strollers that challenge how we view the most basic piece of baby equipment, they also make a variety of seating solutions that include a bouncy-seat base, a high chair and a booster chair.

BOTTOM LINE

The only major complaints that I have are the small basket and this strollers cumbersome inability to navigate curbs or steps. I’ll give it a pass on the curb and step issue, though, since a good 60% of strollers have the same issue for no apparent reason. At least in the Spider it is the side effect of an innovative and highly functional suspension system.

There are many things that I love about this stroller. The entire thing is very well made and it should hold up well to use and abuse. The fabrics and metal used are high quality and are stylish and a lot of design and engineering have obviously gone into this stroller. I love the way the whole thing folds down to the size of a backpack. The small size of this stroller alone is enough to make me fall in love. It can easily tuck into your trunk alongside of groceries, fit on public transportation or tuck into the overhead compartment on trains and buses without worrying about the wide range of inconveniences inherent in umbrella strollers. If you’re looking for a travel stroller that offers more comfort and functionality than you’ll find in most umbrella strollers, you really can’t go wrong with the Spider.