For me, the hardest part about having two children so close together is getting out of the house. I have always been the type of mom who straps the baby in the jogging stroller and walks for six hours. We would bring along snacks and diapers, and make a day of it. I did a ton of research on strollers when I was pregnant with my son, since I knew we would use it more than any other baby item. I ended up ordering a Baby Jogger City Elite and I have loved it ever since. It has a huge canopy, bigger than any other jogging stroller. What it lacks in the storage basket beneath, it makes up for in body space. It has far more height for a growing toddler than any other stroller I have seen. I could strap an eight year old into this stroller and she would still have enough head room.
Since my children are only 22 months apart, my biggest concern since my daughter was born, was finding the right double jogger. I didn’t want our long walks and day long adventures to end just because our numbers had increased. I spent hundreds of hours researching double strollers, and found myself pretty frustrated. Every time I thought I had found the right stroller, I would find a carefully hidden tidbit of information that would prove to be a deal breaker. I finally decided to just go with what I knew I would be happy with and ordered the Baby Jogger City Elite Double.
One thing I spent hours searching for online was a comparison of the City Elite Single and the City Elite Double. I never did find a good one, let alone one with pictures. So, I decided to write one myself! This comparison will not be all encompassing, (not even close) but hopefully it will answer some questions other people have about the double stroller versus the single stroller.
I’m not going to bust out deep descriptions and specs on each stroller. This is just a reference for people who already have one or the other and are thinking of purchasing another one.
First off, the single Baby Jogger Cite Elite has a 14 inch wide seat. This is pretty wide for a stroller. Think about it. An airplane seat in coach is only 17 inches! In order to keep the double from being too wide to fit through any doorways, the seats obviously had to be smaller, but they are still a roomy 12 inches as you can see below.
The double and single both have the same deep canopy that can shade your entire baby. When fully extended, the canopy shades all of my two year old minus his toes.
The Baby Jogger City Elite double and single each have different brake mechanisms. The single has a foot break.
The double has a hand break on the side of the handle bar. I actually prefer the foot brake, although according to reviews I have seen, most people like the hand brake.
Here is what I really like about the City Elites. The single is 28 inches wide at the wheel base and the double is only 29 inches wide at the wheel base. This means, if you could get your single through a particular doorway, then odds are, your double will have no problem. I live in the city and run a lot of errands on foot, so it is important to me to be able to get my double stroller through most doors! It is a definite plus that the Baby Jogger City Elite Double is no wider than a standard wheelchair and therefore can access most establishments. Or rather, it can go in any establishments I could get the single into. Because the wheel base is nearly the same size, the undercarriage storage is also not too different between the two strollers. The double storage basket is wider, but it does not seem as deep as the single. I can still fit enough groceries for a day trip down there.
Both single and double have the ability to fully recline the seat. This is great for very young infants and sleepy babies. Below is the double with one seat reclined and the other upright. There is also a sun/wind shade that can pull down around the back of the seat while it is reclined.
The seat reclines using a strap and clamp mechanism. Immediately below the strap is the a zippered storage pouch for small items and also a large storage pouch for bulkier stuff. The storage pouches are the same on the single and double. the double just has twice as many. I pack them full of cloth diapers, wet bags, and towels for long outings.
Both strollers have a removable console area on the handlebar. This fabric holder can be removed and washed if need be. The double is exactly twice as wide as the single. I wanted to showcase how many beverages you can carry in the holders! This is a great feature to have for a hot day when you need lots of fluids. These strollers do not come with a tray or cup holders in the front for the kids, but my toddler can turn and reach his sippy in the back right from his seat. There is also a flap on the back of the holder that hides more compartments.
All loaded up and ready to go out the door! I lug this thing packed with the kids and our stuff up and down the front stairs every day without too much effort. It is pretty light as double strollers go!
I am really happy with my double jogger. It allows me the freedom to maintain a glimpse of my pre-mom lifestyle even if I feel like I am pushing a bus while doing it. I actually impressed another mom the other day by pushing this whole thing into a large port-a-potty at the park!
*This post is not sponsored by or affiliated with Baby Jogger. I just really like my strollers and wanted to share!
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I just have to say thank you so much for the absolutely great review!! I have the single and a double of another brand wich I’m not happy with. Will by a city elite double and sell my other one. Really happy to see the comparison pictures. Thanks again. 🙂
If you like your city elite single, I am fairly sure you will like the double. I have no complaints. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Wow. Thank you so much for this information. I have been searching for hours.
I love my elite single but I bought a city select when I had my second child.
It is a great pram but not so great for the amount of walking I do and I really miss
My elite. I was worried about the width mainly but I think I will deffinitly get myself an elite double.
Thanks so much !
I can actually push it into the handicapped port-a-potty at the park. It is a very close fit and people always laugh at me when I do it, but it sure beats trying to wrestle two toddlers into another restroom. I love my elite!
hi, i hope youre getting this email, even though this post is 2 yrs old…
i got a really good deal on the elite double and i love everything about it. theoretically. i still dont have it.
i just watched an online video review that says it doesnt go through standart doorways!!! and im freaking out.
but thats the only place that ive seen it. it doesnt mention it anywhere else!
obviously i dont want it if id have to fold it everytime i go through a doorway.
can you please tell me whats the deal with it? thanks!!!
Uh oh! Were they in a very old building? I have found that it sometimes has too tight a fit in pre-war buildings.
lim not sure 🙂 I live in miami beach, some of the buildings are old.. dont know how old.
but she said there (baby gizmo) that its wider than standard- standard door is 30, and she says the hand brake makes the stroller wider at that point to a 30.5″ width.
i googled “standad size door” and it turns out only bedroom doors are smaller than 32″.
so I think ill be ok cause im not going to use it in bedrooms. its too big anyways!! yay!!!
and thank you 🙂
I did find it too wide to go down the back stairs at my old apartment building, which was a pain, since we had to haul it out the front every time. Having two young ones can be a pain sometimes. 😉
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