Review: Babystyle Oyster 2

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The Babystyle Oyster 2 is a pushchair/pram travel system which replaces the original Oyster. It was brought out in 2014 in two ‘finishes’ one black and the other a mirror finish chassis. We bought the black colour pack, however, many bright colours are available eg. reds, blue, purple as well as some additional ‘Vogue’ patterns. You can see them here on the Babystyle website.

What do you get??You have to purchase everything separately (or some shops do a bundle), however everything is mix and match.

So, you choose your chassis (black or mirror), then your pushchair seat colour pack (this also includes the hood, seat cover and apron cover), and if you’d like a carrycot, you select that and it’s colour pack (again includes the hood and apron).

The chassis:?It has a lovely finish and feels very robust. We tried lots of prams and some felt wobbly or plastic-y. This feels well made and like it will last. The handle extends and I must say mine is always up a few knotches. It is very very easy to adjust and comfy to push. Hubby likes it too (he’s close to 6 foot and I’m 5’5″). The chassis folds really easily. Pull the levers and lift over and slot the handle into the catch. To undo, just undo the catch and lift up. Easy peasy!

Wheels: the wheels look very hard wearing, we’ve used ours pretty much daily, ranging from half hour walk to the shops to several hours for a proper walk. There is some wear, there is not much tread left, but we’ve never had a problem or puncture like some friends do with their pushchairs. The front wheels can be locked into position for going over rough ground, or, unlocked so they swivel 360 and give you a very tight turning circle and great manouverability. We generally leave them unlocked.

Brakes: very very easy to use. A leaver for your foot: push down at the front and it locks the breaks, and, push down at the back (closest to you) to unlock. Just make sure you’re not pushing on the handle at the same time as that action will cause the break to stick I the groove (I’m sure this isn’t unique to the Oyster!)?

Pushchair: nice and sturdy and so easy to attach to the chassis. It can also face front or back so brilliant for all ages. Even better, it is suitable from birth as it lies flat! However, when young, I thought Baby H looked so so lost in this mode. She obviously has to be strapped in and the straps didn’t really go tight enough (even when I tried at 3 months). I would say we’re very glad we bought the carrycot, and if we hadn’t, then we very quickly would have. I also think the seat seems a bit exposed as it’s completely flat, other pushchairs often have sides and in the way Baby H never seems very cosy -I didn’t notice this at when shopping for pushchairs, but have noticed friends’s babies always look nice and cosy and protected.

Apron cover: the cover is really easy to attach it just poppers onto the back of the seat cover. The apron cover is more a thin rain cover and definitely not for warmth – it’s not fleecy and really feels quite harsh on both sides. You’d really need to buy the proper footmuff (or a generic one, the lady we spoke to in John Lewis said most footmuffs fit all pushchairs, but please don’t hold me to that!!).

Pushchair rain cover: great as it’s included, it just attaches on with Velcro. But seems a bit flappy when you have baby facing you, I can’t really see where to attach both bottom Velcro straps. I think it works better when baby faces away. Baby H does get her little fingers around the cover, so she sometimes has one wet hand, but I think this is partly because the pushchair in very flat and she’s not ‘inset’ into it, like in many others (there are no sides). However, with the apron cover on, Baby H looks much more wrapped up and protected.

Pushchair bug cover: built in to the bottom of he seat! So easy to use just pop it over the hood and attach to the poppers on the back of the seat. Brilliant and well thought out. I often use it I’d it’s windy to stop any dust getting into the pushchair (I don’t really know if it works, but it feels like I’m helping)

Carrycot: again very easy to fit, all of the attachments just pop onto the chassis. Like the pushchair, the carrycot feels very sturdy, well built and secure. It covered Baby H well throughout the winter rain, sleet and snow and we just popped a blanked over the matress so she was snug underneath as well as a pram blanket over her (under the apron cover). Snug as a bug in a rug!

Carrycot rain covers: included with the carrycot, which is fantastic, he last thing you want to do is buy more! It fitted well, it was quite tight, but it just meant it withstood the weather!

Car seat adapters: very easy to use. If you have a maxi cosi car seat you can leave the adaptors on the car seat all the time instead of adding them on every time…! We learnt that lesson after much fiddling around putting the adaptors onto the chassis each time then slotting on the carrycot. We were always paranoid of loosing one or forgetting them if we switched car or something!

Fitting in the car: well it fits in my Skoda Fabia on its side, however, we could not fit it, and the car seat in the Nissan Note (the boot was big enough if the back seats were slid right forward, but then the car seat didn’t fit!). Also fits nicely flat in the boot of the Hyundai IX20 or Kia Venga – there’s even space to the side for quite a few shopping bags! Obviously fits very nicely in bigger cars like the Hyundai i30, Vauxhall Astra or Audi A3.

Cost: around ?480. Some places sell this all separately, or alternatively you can buy the pushchair chassis, colour pack and carrycot in one (e.g. with the black colour pack, from Amazon by clicking here: BabyStyle – Oyster 2 – Mirror Chassis with Black Colour Pack and Carrycot in Black – includes FREE Baby GoGo Pram Fleece
).

Remember if your car seat fits, to buy the car seat adaptors as well. Buy the Maxi-Cosi Car Seat Adaptors from Amazon by clicking here.

Verdict: 9/10

A great pram system, that seems sturdy and robust and, when we asked about repairs and returns at our local pram centre queried they said it was a great system and they didn’t really come across any problems (if they did they wouldn’t stock and recommend it). The carrycot is definitely worth it as the pushchair is a bit big for a little newborn.

It is a bit bulky, but is better than so many others we looked at. It’s only 56cm wide so is narrower than most and fits through doors and around shops nicely. It’s also very nice to push and the extending handle is very easy to adjust. I wouldn’t be without it!

Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review and did not receive any items for free. We and our family paid for this ourselves and this review is my honest opinion after 8 months of use.