Baby Jogger Summit X3 Stroller Review

February 28, 2017 By Kristian

The Baby Jogger Summit X3 Stroller

Back to Baby Jogger Again!

The Babyjogger city mini double that we bought for our twin babies back in 2009 turned out to be a truly fantastic purchase and lasted many trouble-free years. It was sturdy, easy to fold and unfold, and a breeze to manoeuvre.

Baby number 4 arrived this April and, having spent a few comfortable months in his big sister’s O’Baby zuzu pramette (which incidentally has also been in used by a cousin too and still somehow looks immaculate – well done O’baby, our family can’t take the credit for that!), it was finally time to move on to a sleeker all-terrain jogging stroller.

Since we were about to embark upon our summer vacation abroad (with 4 kids under 7 years of age!) and had just bought a Volvo XC90 (3 rows of seats, but limited storage space), we also needed a stroller that would fold flatter than many products on the market.

I also had good intentions of getting into shape physically in the coming months and so wanted a buggy that could be used for exercising.

The online user reviews and our own previous experience with the fabulous Baby Jogger City Mini Double gave us confidence that the Summit X3 might be the best choice for us.

We ordered the standard colour scheme – black with a black and contrasting grey hood. For a slightly higher price point you can choose one of the other funky color options which did look tempting, but we played it safe instead.

The Summit X3 Arrives

The Summit X3 arrived packaged in a reassuringly small box and unfolded easily in one move to a sleek, robust stroller. The wheels clicked in place with great ease, again in one step. The final safety step is to push together 2 sets of press studs, one on each side, which are easily identified by the red tape. We were ready to go!

The Summit X3 feels a little higher and wider than I expected but that is no bad thing as this stroller can tackle all sorts of terrain if you need that option. The suspension and handling is totally amazing! Like my old city mini double you can steer this beauty one-handed no problem. The brilliantly engineered swivel front wheels are so good that they really do allow you to turn on a dime!

So far as practicalities are concerned, it has a generous basket underneath for groceries etc and there are 2 brakes – one on the handlebar for slowing down gently and and a large foot brake for parking the stroller securely.

The Folding Mechanism

I have never ever seen or used a stroller that folds down as easily as the Baby Jogger Summit X3. It also extremely easy to unfold too.

To fold it up, you simply undo the red press stud straps, grab the handle strap on the front of the seat, and pull sharply. The stroller just folds down effortlessly! No fiddling around with complicated catches and latches or multiple-step processes to remember – just pull the strap!

The un-folding process is just as simple. You just take hold of the handlebar and pull it up – the stroller then just flips into position and you are ready to secure it by attaching the red press stud straps.

Watch These Video Reviews of the Summit X3

There is only so much that you can get from a written explanation of how a stroller works. So, here are a couple of nice video reviews to give you a better idea of the Summit X3’s features.

2 Important Notes

Firstly, there is a warning notice on the handle bar not to hang bags from it. This will take some getting used to for me as I usually store my change bag there but with the basket underneath it is in no way a deal breaker. In fact, we do actually use one of those bag clips on the handlebar to carry a light shopping bag of two.

Obviously, you need to read the safety instructions prior to using the stroller and make your own mind up about this, and other, issues.

To be clear, we hang the bag clip from the metal part of the handlebar (i.e.. down the side of the bar) rather than right in the middle of the rubber grip. If you hang heavy shopping from the middle of the rubber grip part then there is a real risk that the stroller will topple backwards. With the shopping hanging down the side of the stroller we haven’t experienced any stability problems at all.

Secondly, do be aware when purchasing your Summit X3 that it does not come with accessories as standard. They need to be ordered separately.

On vacation, we managed without the sun net by hanging beach towels over the hood to protect the baby from the sun but, with hindsight, the net would have been very useful and I will purchase one for next summer.

Although the hood does well on its own in the odd light rain shower, for seriously wet weather a rain cover will be needed and is next on our purchase list.