Brimming with parent-friendly features, the travel system compatible June pushchair looks set to impress
At the end of March, MFM headed to one the UK’s most important baby events, Harrogate Nursery Fair. Held over three days, MFM gets sneak previews of everything 2012 (and beyond) will hold. With more buggies than you can poke a stick at, it takes a lot to stand out from the crowd, but this is something the EasyWalker June managed to do.
To completely ‘fess up, in 2011 we’d heard rumours of how impressive this buggy from the Netherlands would be. Seeing it in the flesh and grilling EasyWalker for specs face-to-face certainly helped explain why the June’s worth getting excited about.
Weighing 10kg as a buggy, or 11.5kg with the optional carrycot for a pram-like set-up, the June is light without being a lightweight. The carrycot makes the June suitable from birth and can be used for occasional overnight sleeping, while the reversible 4-position seat is suitable from 6 months to 4 years. We’ve heard that the June’s actually been weight tested up to hundreds of kilos – we even watched a grown man take a seat in it!
The June can be converted into a travel system – just one pair of adaptors will give you the choice of adding a Maxi-Cosi Pebble, Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix a Cybex Aton or one of BeSafe’s infant car seats.
This buggy gives the appearance of a tidy package – it’s 55cm wide - but when folded it becomes truly compact. One of the June’s big selling points is that, collapsing down to 55cm by 93cm by 24cm, it can fit in a Mini Cooper. It’s freestanding when folded, the air-filled tyres are quick release, and we love that it can also be folded with the seat unit attached in both the forward or rear facing positions - a handy feature that not all reversible seat buggies boast.
Other clever collapsing news is the seat ‘remembers’ the position it was in and the carrycot can be folded flat for storage if need be. Yep, we certainly like the sound of these spces and can’t wait to test them out in real world conditions (you know, when there’s a hungry baby or stubborn toddler involved).
We’ve been told the EasyWalker June is suitable for urban and all-terrain use. Along with lockable swivel front wheels and those air-filled tyres, it has ball bearings to help ride quality and manooeuvrability, and the high rear axle means no kicking your toes as you stride it out. You operate the brake with your foot – just tap on or flip up to active or release.
While there’s a height adjustable handle for us grown-ups, your child also gets room to grow - the 5-point harness has three shoulder height positions and the hood is height adjustable, looking like it’ll give fab head clearance for taller tots.
Now to the nitty-gritty… the June is set for release in, er, June! Prices we heard mentioned start around £529.99, with the carrycot (and its raincover) an extra £149.99. The seat pad, buggy raincover, footmuff, car seat adaptors and two-sided gate-opening bumper bar all add to the cost. It’s not a budget buy, but then it doesn’t claim to be - the June’s two key words are “compact” and “complete”, as in, it can be a pram, a buggy, a travel system, a complete package without fuss. The Bugaboo Cameleon, Mamas & Papas Mylo, Joolz Day, iCandy Peach and Mothercare Movix all float in this broad price band (especially with optional extras), so it’s keeping good company, but won't suit all family budgets.
