Affordable Travel System Strollers for Active Parents

Baby Trend Expedition Travel System Strollers

Manufacturer: Baby Trend

List Price: $239.99

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For very active parents, sometimes the standard travel system strollers with 5-inch wheels just aren’t enough. If you’re into power walks or running, your choice in travel system strollers needs to accommodate your active lifestyle.With Baby Trend’s line of Expedition travel systems strollers, you get all of the benefits of a jogger, but with the ability to easily snap in your infant’s car seat. And best of all, the entire package sells for less than half of what the high-end joggers retail for.

What’s So Great About Baby Trend Expedition Travel System Strollers?

The greatest feature of the Expedition series travel system strollers is apparent at a glance: it’s a jogger! The Expedition features a pair of 16-inch wheels in the rear and a 12-inch lockable swivel wheel in the front. All three wheels are wrapped with inflatable tires which are easily replaced at just about any local bicycle shop. The locking front wheel is a great feature that allows for easy maneuverability when your in tight places, but locks into place for safety when you’re running to prevent accidental tipping over due to the three-wheel design.

The Expedition also boasts a multi-position, padded reclining seat, a 5 point safety harness, and a fully adjustable canopy. I only attempted to open and fold the stroller a couple of times, but found the “trigger” folding system very easy to manage. Obviously, mechanical parts like these can show a little wear over time, but that’s going to be the case for any of the travel system strollers on the market.

The Expedition series travel system strollers are paired with Baby Trend’s popular Flex-Loc infant car seat, which has received good safety ratings over the years. One of the features that I really like about this infant car seat unit is the adjustable seat back system. Unlike many other units, it allows you to adjust the height of the seat back as your infant grows without having to re-thread the harness through the back of the seat as many other units require.

I also like that the Flex-Loc comes standard with side impact head protection. It’s not quite as sturdy as the impact protection integrated into the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio, but it’s a similar design. Another great feature of the Flex-Loc is the standard car seat boot, a slip over cover that keeps your infant warm which is generally an extra purchase with most other infant car seats.

What’s Not So Great?

When folding up one of the Expedition travel system strollers, the first thing you notice is its size. It’s not a compact unit. However, this is really the case with all jogger-style strollers. If you drive a very compact car, this unit is probably not for you.

Also, I would have liked to see a little more suspension integrated into the wheels of the Expedition. With a jogger, it’s nice to have a little extra comfort for your child, however, unless you plan on running on gravel or dirt trails very often, it’s not likely to be an issue. It’s also considered a very budget-friendly jogger and as such, isn’t going to have a lot of the bells and whistles of a $600 jogger.

What’s in the Box?

• Baby Trend Expedition travel system stroller
• Baby Trend Flex-Loc infant car seat
• Baby Trend Flex-Loc car seat base
• User’s Manual