Chicco BravoFor2

We’re really glad to review Chicco’s BravoFor2 Stroller. My 3-year-old son is the stroller’s biggest fan! He requests to use it for our adventures and loves having the option to ride when his legs are tired. After a few months, he still thinks it’s super cool to stand on the platform and rides along proudly. Our 3-month-old son enjoys gazing at us and watches his older brother with much interest. I also love this product and am so happy to have a stroller that accommodates our family’s needs and keeps both boys content.

The BravoFor2 is sturdy and well-designed. It has a heavy weight at 26.5 pounds. It’s not too heavy to lift, but it’s definitely not lightweight when loading into our car. Folded dimensions are 35 inches high, 24 inches wide and 13 inches deep. When opened, the stroller has a large-but-still-manageable footprint at 24 inches wide, 39 inches high and 36 inches long. The handlebar is not adjustable, but its height is 39 inches, in case you’d like to check pushing comfort.

We use it often for our outings like walking our dog, playing at the park, shopping and even going to museums and the zoo. Our BravoFor2 has proven to be a great stroller solution for our growing family. Our toddler is very independent and loves walking and running on his own, so convincing him to ride in a stroller had become a challenge before this stroller. Luckily, he thinks riding on the back of our BravoFor2 is really cool because he can sit to face me and talk or stand as if he’s taking on the world. (His pride resembles that movie scene standing on the Titanic’s bow—ha!)

Obviously, smooth paved surfaces are ideal for this stroller, but we can also tackle curbs, bumpy stepping stones and grass. We have trouble on our gravel driveway and big bumps, but overall, I’d say that the BravoFor2 handles pretty well. I enjoy having my son hop on to ride across the street because it makes it easy to know he’s safe. This stroller also has long handle support bars that make it easy for him to hold onto the stroller while walking across the street.

The BravoFor2 arrived in one large, heavy box, and my excited 3-year-old was able to help set it up quickly. It was one of the easiest strollers I’ve assembled. Chicco suggests padding the floor to prevent damage during assembly, and we were able to fold the box and use it as padding. If you have wooden floors, I would recommend following that step. The directions are illustrated with pictures and easy to follow. Two washers are included, but we had trouble keeping track of them, and they quickly became truck cargo—so it’s best to watch little helpers closely.

I really like the large storage space underneath the seat. I love how Chicco allowed access from the front and rear of the stroller. It is a deep basket and has carried lots of our gear. One day, we walked uptown to buy birthday presents and pick up dad’s birthday cake. I set the cake carefully in the storage basket and wondered if it would make it home over the curbs with a rambunctious 3-year-old aboard. I can’t tell you how relieved and pleased I was to open that cake box and find the double layer icing intact when we arrived home. We’ve also hung our diaper bags on the handlebar, and the BravoFor2 has accommodated them all nicely. My 3-year-old son has to duck underneath the diaper bag as he climbs aboard, but the hanging bag doesn’t interfere with his ride or bother him.

Chicco’s BravoFor2 is safe and sturdy. A 5-point safety harness holds children in the forward-facing seat, and it’s so well-designed that releasing the straps is even easy. The shoulder straps slide easily off the waist strap when released. The youth back seat has a waist/crotch strap for big kids. I’d like to have a longer crotch strap, but it doesn’t seem to bother my son’s comfort. The brakes are easy to engage, too. I have found that I need to be careful to fully engage it, though, because we’ve had a couple times when I thought the brake was locked, but the stroller rolled forward as the mechanism clicked on the grooves.

The standing platform is sturdy enough for our wiggly guy and is a good size (about the length of our toddler’s shoes). Standing handles are located behind the front seat backrest. They are positioned perfectly to keep my son in position and provide support. We use a Chicco KeyFit 30 Car Seat, and the ease of clicking our car seat into place was a major decision in choosing this stroller.

(I have to say how much I love the way our KeyFit 30 Car Seat clicks and locks easily into position on all our Chicco products. We use car seat bases in our cars and keep the Caddy in the back of our car for errands, eating out and running to our toddler’s classes. We’ve used the Activ3 Jogging Stroller for three years and love it as well. I love how our options meet our family’s different needs.  The BravoFor2 lived up to my expectations for easy use with our KeyFit 30 Car Seat. It’s so simple to set the car seat in position and hear it click to lock!)

As frequent walkers, stroller conveniences are very important to us. The BravoFor2 has a large canopy that covers a seated child well and protects against sun. To get full sun coverage in the car seat, we need to use both the car seat sunshade combined with the stroller canopy. The canopy does not protect against wind and does not fully enclose the car seat. The canopy can be adjusted up and down to block the sun angles. The canopy adjustment notches are quite noisy, so I don’t adjust it while my son is sleeping. Chicco has padded the handle well, and it’s comfortable to push. The accessory pocket is a nice, large size and holds everything we need for walks like a cellphone, keys, dog bags, toy cars, etc. The plastic cup holders are adequate, but I would like to see them a little deeper. I like how the accessory pocket is fabric and has a zipper. It’s nice to know things won’t bounce out and that they are secure from little hands.

Closing and opening the stroller is simple and easy. With practice, it only requires one hand to close the stroller, and this busy mom likes that! Also, I find it easier to close the stroller with my right hand. It’s possible with your left hand, but using this hand is definitely more awkward. I love how the stroller stands upright on the wheels when folded. What a wonderful thing in wet, dirty parking lots! Chicco does not include instructions to open the stroller. After a few trials, I developed a good method though.

We’re really happy with Chicco’s BravoFor2. This stroller has made our lives easier and helped us navigate life with two children. For our close in-town trips, we’ve even started taking our car less because it’s become faster and easier to stroll with our kids in the BravoFor2.

Price: $280
Where to buy: amazon.com