The Classic comes only in an eye-catching red, and looks stylish with three pneumatic white wall tyres. While you can use the Classic buggy from birth as it is, you can also go for the cosy options and buy the cocoon, £42.95, or peanut bassinet, £122.95. The seat does recline completely flat, slung from the sides of the pram, a bit hammock-like.
My baby Freya is 4 months old and quite a decent size for her age, so we tried the Classic with a sleeping bag called a ‘snuggle and snooze’. This is best likened to a cosytoes. Added to this in the box was a piece of see-through plastic to attach to the back of a reclined seat to make it weather-proof, a metal bar that we added to take the car seat and a raincover.
It was easy to set up the Classic. The buggy folds reasonably small anyway, so all I had to do was take it out of the box and add the wheels and handle. This was easy, thankfully, as the instructions aren’t the most straightforward of things – the pictures and words are on different pages, so lots of page turning is required.
The Classic isn’t my first try of a Phil and Teds buggy. I used one five years ago for my first two children. Phil and Teds haven’t altered much other than to make the buggy travel system compatible. There’s a decent range of car seats the Classic buggy can be paired with - the Phil and Teds bebe HS car seat (the one we tried), Chicco Keyfit, Graco Snugride, Peg Peregos Primo Viaggio and Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix or Mico. You use adaptors to fit the car seats to the Classic.
The Phil and Teds Classis has a 3-position recline that’s adjusted by tightening the straps at the seat’s rear. Your child can be sat upright, lying flat and what they call heads up, which seemed very nearly flat to me.
What we love
The Phil and Teds Classic offers real flexibility for those possibly planning to have another baby. And a good addition has been the ability to make your all-terrain 3-wheeler into a travel system.
The lie flat seat in the Classic is truly horizontal and very roomy, and will certainly accommodate a toddler aged 2 or 3.
The Phil and Teds bebe HS car seat has a nifty cover that you press on in order to lengthen the 3-point harness, instead of a hole in the covering. Once I had got the knack of this, it seemed a much easier way of doing things than having to reach through like you do on some models.
Once you have the adaptor in place the car seat fits easily and quickly onto the chassis.
The folding mechanism is different to many other brands, but is easy once you get the hang of it. The Classic also folds up very small.
When used as a travel system, or just in buggy mode, the Phil and Teds Classic is very stable and easy to push. It weighs 11kg as a buggy, plus an extra 2kg on top of this when used with the car seat.
The sleeping bag is lovely and cosy. It’s so soft and warm, and I thought it was more flexible that some cosytoes, which can seem a bit rigid and bulky around a small baby. While I don’t plan on taking my four children camping this year, if I did head off, I think this ‘snuggle and snooze’ would prove useful.
What to watch out for
The Classic is the budget option in Phil and Teds range of 3-wheelers, and the fabric doesn’t feel as robust as on the others. The fabric poppers and straps seem a little flimsy. Some mums have commented that the fabric can rip easily after prolonged use.
The hood is a touch too small to offer real protection from the elements for a newborn or younger baby. This is especially the case when they’re fully reclined because it’s a long way above them. I even found Freya squinting in the sunshine because not enough shade was created. Purchasing a parasol would resolve this.
Once the seat is reclined, the large shopping basket is hard to access.
There’s a fair amount of extra kit you can buy for this buggy – that’s what makes it so flexible and able to cater to different needs. However, for a single child being used as a classic travel system, it still needs extras such as the small piece of weatherproofing you have to attach by toggles to the back of the reclined seat, and the metal adaptors for the car seat. This is all stuff you have to remember to have with you all the time, taking up valuable space in the shopping basket.
Who is the Phil and Teds Classic travel system best for?
Mums after a travel system that’s got the potential to head off-road once it returns to life as a buggy.
The Phil and Teds Classic travel system is a truly versatile, value-for-money option. It can adapt to your growing family, though this will all add to the cost. It’s sturdy, roomy, and the car seat is easy to add to the buggy. And while there’s the downside of the hood not being as protective as it could be, this can be overcome if you really love everything else this buggy can offer.
