Final Day With the Graco Evo Mini

Today was the last day of testing the Graco Evo Mini so we thought we would treat the Evo Mini to a nice trip to the beach.

It got to enjoy watching everyone eat ice creams.

It got to feel what it was like on pebbles (I'm told it was a bit bumpy)

And at the end of our little adventure it even got a carry from Daddy Hazelden to save it's poor wheels getting tired.

We here in the Hazelden Household have had a really great time testing the Graco Evo Mini and are quite sad that it is over!!!

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Disclaimer : I have been sent the Graco Evo Mini as part of an on going review, all thoughts and opinions are my own

The Graco Evo Mini Review

Graco are global brand that have gone from strength to strength. In recent years their range of products has expanded to include car seats, pushchairs, travel cots, travel systems and baby swings.

I was very happy indeed when I found out a month ago that I had been chosen by Graco to be one of five people lucky enough to test their new pushchair, the Graco Evo Mini.

What you get in the box

In the box you receive the pushchair itself, rear wheels, front swivel wheel, hood, raincover and instruction booklet. This pushchair is sold exclusively at Mothercare with a RRP of £179.99

We were sent the Graco Evo Mini in the Grenadine colourway, I have to say it wasn't the colour I would have picked but I really love it. In my opinion it is a mix between a red and an orange, very neutral, so suitable for both boys and girls. The Graco Evo Mini is also available in Latigo Bay. 

Piecing the pushchair together was ever so simple. Just a case of clicking in the wheels and poppering on the hood and basket, it is all explained nicely in the instruction booklet too, just incase you get a little stuck!!

The Chassis

The metal chassis is sturdy, I find a lot of strollers can feel like they would tip over but this is very solid.   It is also a look better looking in real life. In pictures it looks a bit plastic but I can assure you when up close and personal it has a really nice finish, I would describe the colur as gun metal.

All three wheels are made from solid rubber, no worrying about punctures and the front wheel can be locked or used in swivel mode. The swivel makes the pushchair very easy to manouvere, although I did find that it made a slight rattling noise when out and about.

The brake has a small pedal that can be pressed down on either side, giving a nice clicking sound as you push it down. Easy enough to do however I wouldn't recommend trying to take it back off with your feet if you're wearing flip flops as it can be a little stiff.

The basket I think has to be it's best feature!! For a stroller it extremely spacious, I managed to fit two big bags of shopping in there and it was fantastic for the school run. It is easily accesible, even when they pushchair is reclined.

The handle is about average height, around 102cm, it isn't adjustable, not the biggest problem but would have been nice if it was. As you can see from the photo below, all of my family members managed to test it out, even my tiny 4ft 11 mummy!!

The Seat

The seat itself is very spacious. It is nicely padded and it wipes clean, which is great if you have mucky toddlers. The Evo Mini was tested by my 3 year old and 8 month old daughters, as well as my 14 month old godson and 18 month old nephew. Even my 3 year old being at the top of the age bracket sat in there comfortably and because the pushchair is an extremely lightweight 6.2kg, even with my Gracie in there, it stayed light to push, even with only one hand on the handle and another child holding onto the frame.

The harness was a bit fiddly to adjust when pulling through the seat unit but was a lot simpler to adjust for the length. 

The seat can be reclined via a toggle at the back of the pushchair. I love the recline because you have more seating positions and the seat lies almost flat, so with the right accessories you may be able to use from birth. The thing I don't like about the toddler recline, is sitting it back up, not so bad with a baby, but with a heavy toddler it can take some effort.

The hood is quite large, providing suitable coverage from the sun. It is very strong, no being blown back in the wind but I was disappointed that there was no window in the hood, I didn't like not being able to see my little one. 

The raincover

This is very well designed. It fits the pushchair like a glove and can be put on with minimal effort, as shown here. It poppers round the bottom of the frame, meaning it can't be kicked off by fidgety feet. And when not in use, it folds down nice and small so you can pop it in the basket for safe keeping.

The Fold

The Graco Evo Mini is easy peasy to fold and the fact that you can do it with one hand was a plus for me, having four children around it is nice to always have one hand free!! I made a video to show you how easy it is to do, once folded it locks closed. The specifications when folded are 79 x 48 x 22 cm, making it nice and compact and it even folds down with the raincover still attached.

Conclusion

I have never been the biggest fan of strollers, I've always refused to use the mother in laws buggy but the Graco Evo Mini has well and truely changed my mind. With it's spacious seat and basket, as well as being unbelievably lightweight, it is suitable for any family. As explained in my review the only things I can complain about are the lack of window in the hood and that the handle isn't height adjustable but these are minor problems. I wouldn't hesistate to recommend this pushchair to others infact I have done nothing but tell people how amazing it is!!!

Disclaimer : This pushchair has been sent to me as part of an ongoing review, all thoughts and opinions are my own

The Graco Evo Mini in film

For those of you that perhaps haven't seen my tweets, I have put a few clips on You Tube showing different features of the Graco Evo Mini. So I thought I would put them all in this post for you to have a nosey at.

1. Introducing the Graco Evo Mini

2. A pushchair is a chair right?

3.  Even little girls can push the Graco Evo Mini

4. Folding the Graco Evo Mini

5. Fitting the raincover on the Graco Evo Mini

Happy watching

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Rainy Days With the Graco Evo Mini

Just before the sunshine made an appearance, there were a few days where the Graco Evo Mini's rain cover needed to be used.

I am really pleased with it. With some strollers the raincover can be quite flimsy or hard to fit, this raincover was the complete opposite.

To fit you just simply do up the velcro around the hood and the frame at the top and do up one popper around the front wheel at the bottom, I thought the popper was a nice touch as it means that when you have an older child in there, they can't kick it off. It covers the whole pushchair so your child and the seat stay dry.

You can roll the raincover back and keep it attached to the pushchair as the stroller still folds with it attached but it is also just as easy to take it off and store it in the basket as it folds down nice and compact!!

Below are a few pictures just to show you what I am talking about.

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Graco Evo Mini, bringing the family together

It has been over a week now since the Graco Evo Mini arrived in the Hazelden household and it has become the new family member!!

Both Layla and Gracie have been plonking their bums in the Evo Mini and it has been pushed by a lot of my family members.

Not only have my 7 and 5 year olds taken turns to push their sister's, so has Daddy Hazelden, Nannie Ros and Uncle Alec.

The photo to the left shows the lovely Nannie Ros (my mummy) pushing the pushchair.

She stands at a tiny 4 foot 11 inches tall.

She found the Graco Evo Mini comfortable to push although she did say should would prefer it if the handle were adjustable in height.

The photo to the right shows the kiddies Uncle Alec (my brother) having his turn at pushing the pushchair when he visited at the weekend.

He stands at just under 6 feet tall, so the opposite end of the spectrum to Nannie Ros.

Again he had no complaints about pushing the Graco Evo Mini, although when Gracie decided to lean forward in the seat he did find it a bit heavy to bump up the kerbs!!





I think this shows that the Graco Evo Mini is suitable for all family members, just another reason why I am finding it a great pushchair.

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Graco Evo Mini's First Outing

When the Graco Evo Mini pushchair arrived I couldn't wait to take it for a spin!! It was pushed up and down the living room while we waited for it to be time for the school run.

Strapping Layla in was very simple. I really like the fact that the harness has suitable padding around it, making it comfortable to have over your little ones. And even though Layla is quite small for her age, the seat padding made her look and feel nice and secure.

Layla was very happy sat in it, laughing away and because of the substantial size hood she was well covered from what little sunshine there was.

As you can see from the picture above, she had plenty of room. The only problem I had was that the material of the seat and the material of her snowsuit meant that she slid around a little.

Gracie held on to the frame whilst I pushed. She found it a little too tall for her small arms, she had to stretch a little to reach.

This pushchair is extremely light, so easy to manouever, even with Gracie holding on to it, Going up and down the kerbs was no problem, I even managed it when I was holding on to the handle with one hand. The handle height is just about right, I am 5ft 1 and it was comfortable enough for me, although it would be better if you could adjust the handle height.

The best feature I have found so far is the basket. I can't get over how spacious it is for a lightweight stroller because with most other buggies you find that the basket is either too small or not very accessible. As you can see from the photo below, I managed to fit it two school bags and two lunch boxes, still with room for more.

All in all a very successful first outing, I am looking forward to the next few weeks of testing, kids on half term next week, so lets see what we can get up to!!

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My First Impressions of the Graco Evo Mini

So for those of you that follow me on twitter and facebook, you will know that I was 1 of 5 lucky people chosen to test the new Graco Evo Mini pushchair.

The pushchair arrived on Friday afternoon and it was quickly removed from it's packaging and set up.

So what's in the box :

Graco Evo Mini seat unit in Grenadine/ chassis
Back wheels
Front swivel wheel
Hood
Raincover
Instructions

It was very easy to set up, simply clicking the wheels and hood into place and a couple of poppers to do up on the hood and basket. It was all clearly illustrated in the instruction booklet, so took all of 5 minutes to piece together.

Once put together, I was pleasantly surprised at how spacious it was, yet still remaining lightweight. With a lovely padded seat and a simple toggle cord for reclining on the back, meaning that it virtually lied flat, I could see how someone could use this pushchair from birth. The adjustable straps means that it suitable right up until your child is around three years old, although I must admit I found it a bit fiddly changing the height of the straps through the seat padding, what is it they say,  "practice makes perfect".

The basket is a decent size, normally strollers have small or inaccesible baskets but this one is ideal for school bags or maybe some shopping.

One of the Evo Mini's main features is it's one hand folding system. It is a simple process, there is a big button in the centre of the handle with a small button on the left hand side of the big button. You just pull the small button to the right with your thumb as you push up on the big button with the rest of your hand and push the handle forward. It literally folds in half, making it a very compact fold. 

My 3 year old couldn't wait to sit in "her" new pushchair, infact once sat in it, she remained in it for the afternoon whilst watching the TV, a good way to test it I thought.

As first impressions go, the Graco Evo Mini certainly made a good one with me. I made a little YouTube video, just to show the pushchair in a bit more detail. 

I am looking forward to taking the pushchair out for a spin and seeing how my mini testers find the ride. Watch this space for more updates, where might the Graco Evo mini visit??

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The Grand Unveiling Of The Graco Evo Mini

So yesterday the doorbell went and there was a UPS delivery van outside my door. I wasn't expecting a delivery so I was intriqued to find out what was in the massive box that had just been given to me.

I think these pictures give you a pretty good idea :

 The Graco Evo Mini had arrived

Time to piece it together :

And start checking out the features :

The picture to left shows :

 the toggles that are used to recline the seat unit                      
 the padded seat

 the spacious basket

The picture on the right shows :

the foam handle bar and button for collapsing

the pushchair in all its glory

the pushchair when folded down

Finally we had to let our little testers have a try in their new wheels :

Really looking forward to putting this pushchair through its paces over the next month.

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