Quinny Hubb Duo review

The Hubb Duo can be used from birth with a carrycot, from birth cocoon, or car seat (which must be purchased separately). It has a strong, durable frame.

There are six different seat configurations:

• Carrycot + seat
• Cocoon seat + normal seat
• Maxi cosi car seat + normal seat
• Parent facing seat + forward facing seat
• Duo seat where they are both facing forward
• Forward facing seat + hop-on board

Tested by:

Helen Copson is a journalist, blogger and stay at home mum. She tested the Quinny Hubb Duo with her 19-month-old twins and three year old.

First impressions of the Quinny Hubb Duo

When it comes to transporting twins and a three year old, the market for tandem and double buggies is literally a minefield. I’ve tried a lot buggies both tandem and double and there’s always something I love and hate about them.

When I received the Quinny Hubb Duo I had hopes that this could be ‘the one’. From the price (£629) I was confident that it wouldn’t be too lightweight and that it would be a decent bit of kit. It looked substantial, the wheels were strong and I could tell this buggy wasn’t going to be flimsy or lightweight.

I like to have a double stroller which has a bit of equality about its seat design, position, ease and most importantly comfort. To look at, the Hubb Duo is a really stylish, attractive buggy. I really liked the look of it. We reviewed one with red hoods and graphite seats, which was great. There’s a wide choice of colours. You can choose from black, graphite or grey seats, then black, graphite, grey, ochre, blue coral, cork, navy or frost hoods.

How easy the Quinny Hubb Duo to assemble?

I have to admit my husband built it whilst I fed the boys, but watching him, it didn’t look the quickest or easiest buggy to build. It took him about half an hour as the instructions were not overly helpful, whereas other buggies have taken about 10 minutes.

How easy is it to switch the seating configurations of the Quinny Hubb Duo?

Switching is relatively simple but to be honest is time consuming. The Hubb Duo has 5 holes on the frame for seats/carrycots/car seats to slot into, and these all have small plastic inserts to fill them when you’re not using them – and they only fit into certain slots. You have to remove these each time you want to change the configurations (and then remember not to lose them!).

The seats recline from fully upright to fully flat. They move by pulling out a handle on top of the seat and click into place once you release the handle.

With my twins being 19 months old, they were in the podium-style duo seats where they were both facing forward. The rear seat is higher so whoever is in the back can look out over the top, which is great.

What do you think of the Quinny Hubb Duo's fold system?

As with all new buggies, you’ve got to get the knack before you’re let loose on it out and about. Technically it should be simple, and once I got, it kind of was. Once you’ve removed the seats, you squeeze the large button in on the pushbar handle and pull it up to unfold it and vice versa to collapse it.

How compact is it?

It is 57cm wide so isn’t the narrowest buggy I’ve used, but for a tandem is great to get through narrow spaces. When you’ve got two seats on, it’s pretty long so takes a bit of getting used to.

How easy is the Quinny Hubb Duo to store?

It’s fairly chunky to store and because you have to remove the seats before collapsing it, you need space to store them as well. One fits neatly over the top of the folded frame, but you still have another one too. It’s not as compact as a traditional stroller that folds way in one piece.

It easily fits into the boot of my car, but I do drive a VW Touran, which has a big boot. Having said that, the Hubb Duo takes up a lot more space than my usual Mountain Buggy. It’s long so you have to put it in sideways so takes up at least three quarters of the boot. It wouldn’t fit into a small car boot.

How lightweight is the Quinny Hubb Duo?

The first thing I noticed on pushing the Hubb Duo is that it’s not lightweight at all. I actually found it quite heavy to push. It is a sturdy buggy and ‘drove’ nicely on the pavement. I did notice a difference as soon as the surface became uneven or sloped. There was a particular area where the camber of the pavement was sloping to the left and I actually struggled to keep control of the buggy, as it was so heavy.

Pushing it uphill was hard, and on surfaces with a slope to either side, it was pretty unwieldy. I took it over a few cobbles, which was a bit of an effort but not as bad as I expected, and it rode well at the park. I found mounting a few kerbs quite hard though as it’s so heavy to push down on the back to raise the front.

What did you think of the Quinny Hubb Duo's wheels?

The wheels are ‘foam-filled for comfort’ and have rear wheel suspension and swivel front wheels. All this combined means a comfortable and easily manoeuvrable buggy.

What do you think of the handlebar?

I liked the handle bar. You can adjust its height but only relatively slightly. I’m 5’8” and used it fully extended which was fine for me, but if you were particularly short the handlebar would be quite high.

How comfortable are the Quinny Hubb Duo's seats?

The seats are lovely. They’re good quality, padded, spacious and seem really comfortable. They have a 5-point harness with 3 different height positions so can adjust as your child grows. They also have an adjustable footrest too. The bumper bars across the seat are handy because they can either come off completely or open up from either side – this is great to save having to put it down somewhere when you’re out.

How is interacting with your little ones when using the Quinny Hubb Duo?

If you had them rear-facing this would be great for the baby closest to you, as they are pretty high up, but you wouldn’t be able to really see the baby in the front seat. Equally when you have both babies forward facing as I do, there’s not a lot of interacting going on at all.

How effective are the brakes?

The brake is a foot pedal to the right of the frame at the bottom. You push it once for on, and once again for off. I didn’t particularly like this, as you can’t see just by looking at it whether it’s on or off. My boys still managed to move the buggy about half a metre forward with the brake still on when it was in my hallway, so I am not sure I have a lot of trust in it.

What do you think of the Quinny Hubb Duo's hoods?

The hoods are brilliant. They pull really far down over your child and can be extended even further by undoing a zip, so are a great sunshade or raincover if you forget the proper one. The hoods have peekaboo windows, which form a mesh section the entire width of the hood, which is handy. The hoods are water-resistant too, and are made of a really nice soft quality material in lots of different colours.

The raincovers are brilliant too. They fit really well over the hoods and seats, have air holes to stop them getting steamed up but also zips across the top so you can have them slightly open and your child can see out. My boys were so much happier in these with the zips open, than they’ve ever been under any other rain cover.

How accessible and useful is the basket?

The basket seems huge when you first see it, but the space soon disappears once the seats are on. You can only really access it from the back if you want to put anything big in it. Having said that I still managed to fit a rucksack and little bag in there, as well as smaller items such as hats and gloves.

Is the Quinny Hubb Duo car seat compatible?

The Hubb Duo is car seat compatible with Maxi Cosi car seats.

Any additional products needed?

The hoods come separately which I found a bit odd, and the bumper bar is another additional extra. Other extras you can buy include a list as long as your arm – cup holder, parasol, footmuff, hop-on board, seat liner, blanket, winter liner, summer liner, changing bags, three different sorts of shopping bags, sun canopy and from-birth cocoon.

What did you really like about the buggy?

I loved the hoods. They are good quality fabric, have a full-width peekaboo window and pull right down over your child. So many buggies have hoods that don’t pull down very far and it’s annoying! I also loved the podium seating so whoever is in the rear seat still has a great view and the fab rain covers with their handy zips.

Any criticisms?

Quinny obviously haven’t thought too much about how the Hubb goes from one seat to two. When you only have one seat on it reclines really easy. When you have two – not so much! The rear one reclines fully, but the front one can hardly move as the rear one is in the way.

I would have liked to know that you needed to buy the hoods, extra seats and bumper bars separately – and how heavy to push this buggy feels.

Who is the Quinny Hubb Duo most suited for?

Quinny design products for those living in the city and that’s exactly who it is useful for. This buggy isn’t going to do a walk on the beach with you particularly easily. It’s not only useful for twins, but also anyone with different aged small children. It’s versatile with all the seat configurations it has so can be adapted to be used by anyone whatever your needs.

How much is the Quinny Hubb Duo and is it good value?

The Quinny Hubb Duo is £629 which I think is a good price for where it sits in the market. It’s a strong, sturdy, attractive and versatile buggy, which is easily comparable to the likes of iCandy and Bugaboo, so I do think it’s worth it.

How does it compare to other travel systems and double’s you have used?

I used a Bugaboo Cameleon for my oldest child, and when twins arrived, I went for the iCandyPeach Blossom. This was ideal for the first six months, but as the babies grew I found it hard to get a baby into the bottom seat. This put me off tandems and I went to the Mountain Buggy Duo, a side-by-side which I love, despite how heavy it is. The Quinny Hubb Duo is a game changer.

What’s in the box?

Frame

Wheels

One seat

Adaptors

Rain cover

MadeforMums verdict:

The Quinny Hubb Duo is a great bit of kit, and good value for money against some of its competitors. It’s not a lightweight stroller and doesn’t fold away that easily or compactly, so I wouldn’t class it as a stroller more a travel system, but it’s a strong, solid buggy. I would definitely recommend it, as it can adapt to every stage your children are at. Although my recommendation comes with a warning that it is heavy to push. But seeing as most mums have no time for the gym, they can consider it a work-out!

Read More:

• Babystyle Oyster Lite Double Stroller review
• iCandy Peach Blossom review
• Best double buggies