Review: Mothercare Backspin Stroller

An article by Guest Mum    1 Comment

Those of you that have been paying attention will remember that I accidentally bought four buggies. Anxious to reassure my husband that I’m not a lunatic (he wasn’t convinced), I thought I’d write some pushchair reviews so I could at least say it was all in the name of research (he wasn’t convinced about that, either). In this, the second of my three buggy reviews, I tackle town and country with the cheap and cheerful Mothercare Backspin stroller…

The Pushchair Review: Mothercare Backspin Stroller

The Backspin is the smallest - and cheapest - of the buggies I’ve reviewed. It’s a neat little umbrella fold that’s tiny enough to fit in the boot of pretty much any car, although it will attempt to remove your fingers if you don’t pay close attention when you’re folding it up. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Around Town

The Backspin is designed for one specific purpose: slinging in the back of the car and popping to the shops. In this, at least, it excels. The lack of features - which would drive you potty if you were using it as your main buggy - is actually a blessing when you just need to drop by Tesco and pick up some milk. Being so small and light, it copes brilliantly with corners and narrow aisles, and when I took this pushchair on its first trip to my local shopping centre, I kind of fell in love with it. But as soon as I hit the streets, our love affair soured. Brighton’s cobbled (and generally poorly serviced) pavements gave TS a bumpy ride, owing to the lack of any kind of suspension, and the knock-on effect was that, within a couple of hours, I had jarred my wrists so badly that they hurt all evening and well into the next day. Somewhat inexplicably, people also kept tripping over the pushchair, which incited irritation in me and the full-on zombie rage in TS.

Off Road

Are you having a laugh? I mean, I thought about taking the Backspin off-road, but the look in TS’s eye said I’d surely be sorry if I did. The wheels are small, the seat is unpadded and there is, as I think I mentioned, absolutely no suspension, so unless you want broken wrists and a baby with a Bad Attitude, I wouldn’t recommend it.

The Details

The Mothercare Backspin’s main selling point is that it’s compact. Now that’s great if you’re under 5’8″, but for the rest of us, it means a sore back and constantly tripping over the back of the chassis. In terms of features, you really won’t find any, which will please some people and annoy others; the seat reclines just enough for an unfussy baby to catch some zeds, and there’s a five point harness that even the most MacGyver of babies would struggle to get out of, but that’s about it.

The Verdict

The Mothercare Backspin was built for one job, and one job only. And it does that brilliantly. But let’s be honest here: you’re not going to buy this as your one-and-only, full time buggy. Well, not unless you’ve got bionic wrists. It doesn’t off-road - or on-road, for that matter - but at the shops, it may just save you from cursing the day you ever bought that enormous travel system as you get shut in yet another lift door. At £50, however, I can’t help feeling that I paid an extra £15 over the bottom-of-the-range stroller, just to have it in “ocean blue”.

2 out of 5 stars ★★☆☆☆

Next time, in the last of my buggy reviews for Brighton Mums, I’ll be test driving the infamous Bugaboo Cameleon. In the meantime, check out my review of the Maclaren Techno XLR Pushchair.

Charlee is a freelance writer and guest contributor for BrightonMums.com. She lives in organised chaos with her husband, her baby daughter and an angry cat in Hanover, Brighton. You’ll find first-time parenting adventures, tips, advice and reviews on her mummy blog, Bump Diaries. You can also read her other blogs and employ her writing services over at Charlee Says. Give her a shout at charlee@charleesays.com.