Living in what some might consider the Timbuktu of the Canadian prairies, I’ve never before seen a Mutsy stroller in my neck of the woods.

For the past while, we’ve been cruising the town in our new 4 Rider and have been getting looks left, right & center.

Looks that say “Where on earth did you get that beautiful machine, and where can I get mine?”

The Mutsy 4 Rider arrives in three rather large boxes (chassis & wheels in one, seat in another and bassinet in another). That may be a concern if you have a compact vehicle and you’re buying at a retail store instead of online (but why when you can get free shipping?) but I didn’t think the boxes together were much larger than the one huge box that my good old travel system of years gone by came in.

My two year old and I opened the boxes and had the 4 Rider assembled in no more than 5 minutes. The four wheels popped on the aluminum chassis in seconds and clicked in easily. We opened up the chassis & clicked it into the locked position (again – in seconds). From there, we grabbed the seat out of the other box and clicked it in to the chassis. Ta da – stroller. No tools, no fuss.

The 4 Rider comes standard with both a bassinet and seat, which can be clicked in facing forward or backward. Also available, ordered separately, are a dinner tray (the standard is simply a padded bar), footmuffs, a step-up board which converts the 4 Rider into a stand & ride for two children, a Fun Seat, raincovers, 2 types of bags, and an attachment which allows a standard Graco carseat to snap in. There’s also a sitter available that turns the 4 Rider seat into a bouncer/rocker for your home.

The handle is telescoping to 5 positions which allows both my husband and I, a foot apart in height, ample comfort in pushing it.

The single spoke wheels have pneumatic tires for awesome comfort & a cool minimalistic modern look. It comes with a mini pump which tucks away attached inside the basket for pumping emergencies. The front wheels are fully swiveling making this stroller exceptionally maneuverable and the wide wheel base make it extremely stable. The Mutsy 4Rider is quick to fold with or without the bassinet or seat attached to the frame.

The 4 Rider weighs 23.2 lbs – not light but certainly doable – and folds to approximately 41 x 25×12 inches. You’re likely going to want a smaller & lighter stroller like the Mutsy Spider for quick trips & rides in other people’s teeny vehicles.

The 4 Rider is available in Canada from Macklem’s in Toronto, but it appears they only sell over the phone. There are also a few other retail locations in the great white north. Online you can order from Baby Guru ($929 Cdn). In the US you can find Mutsy products on sites all over the web, including Goores (the 4 rider is currently ~$575) and, as with everything including the kitchen sink, you lucky Americans can get it from Amazon. Mutsy products are also available in several brick and mortar stores across the US.

Save 10% on any Mutsy order from Goores with the code topmu.

Win it! We’re giving away a very portable Mutsy Spider to one randomly selected commenter. To enter, visit the Mutsy site to see some of the amazing products & features offered by the brand. Come back and comment with your impressions, your faves, your suggestions…anything! Contest closes at noon mst on December 25, 2008.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

When I bought (okay, my mother in law bought…) my first stroller, I was very concerned about the cup holders. Little did I know that no matter how many and how deep they were, they’d still spill their contents everywhere when we hit bumps and would fall off and even break when they were stuck in the back of my vehicle. I suppose it’s akin to buying a car for the great mirrors and lipstick holder. You do it once and learn your lesson.

Now that my stroller is adorned with the fabulous (reader recommended – thanks Katja!) Think King Soft Buggy Cup designed by King-Yee Man, I’ll never worry about cup holders again. It’s made of squishable but sturdy mesh and nylon and is large enough to hold both a drink and your keys/wallet/cell phone but small enough to be totally unobtrusive. It’s flat bottom and drawstring top keep the contents level and secure. I stick my necessities at the bottom and my drink on top and I’m ready to rock and roll.

The Think King Soft Buggy Cup is truly the first cup holder I’ve found that really works and is multi-purpose. It attaches easily with Velcro to almost anything (strollers, car seats, scooters, bikes…), is easy to clean and pulls of in seconds if you want to move it to another stroller or location.

Get 15% off on your purchase of 2 or more with the code buggycup-top for the next two weeks only! (Ends May 16/08.)

Trust me when I tell you that you’ll want to keep both for yourself. I’m ordering even more – one for each child to keep on the stroller, one for my regular dose of caffeine and necessities, two for hanging in the van so I can ditch those blasted carseat cup holders, four to live on our bikes…

Hmmm, get yours fast before I put them out of stock!

Guest review by T.O.P. reader John. Don’t forget to pay him and his family a visit after you check out his review.

Last summer my mom wanted advice for what to get our son Ben for his 2nd birthday. Ethan, our four year old, was dominating our driveway on his tricycle so we thought a bike for Ben to call his own would be great. We suggested a good ol’ Big Wheel, just like the ones we had as kids. She ordered it off of Amazon and we went to work assembling it after his birthday party. I’ll start with the bad news…

Assembling the Big Wheel is a real pain. Everything went together pretty smoothly except the pedals. If you read the reviews you will see many people who gave poor ratings because the pedals would not stay on. These people did not assemble it correctly. Locking the pedals in place requires sliding a lock washer onto the axle with the pedal. You can pretty easily do this by hand and get the pedal on partway…but it will NOT stay on like this. I ended up taking the whole thing out to my work bench and braced one end on my work bench, put a wood block on top of the pedal (for protection) and hammered the dang thing into place. Took quite a bit of coaxing, but once that washer and pedal were on all the way it will not go anywhere.

The other problem is that despite his height, Ben was too short to use this bike. Even now at 39″ he is still unable to use the bike. This, of course, was good news to his big brother. Here begins the good news…

Ethan LOVES this bike and terrorizes our driveway the same way I did as a kid. Fast laps, power slides, ‘jumps’ over 2×4s and other speed bumps. This Big Wheel has taken a ton of abuse over the last 12 months and it is just now showing some wear and tear. The plastic on the front wheel is starting to break in places due to Ethan driving over obstacles. No worries, still works great and a piece of a plastic milk jug and some duct tape should make for a fun father/son repair job.

If you’re looking for a fun bike for your kids I highly recommend the Big Wheel. Amazon is selling them for $29.99 and it’s worth it. Use some patience and elbow grease during assembly and then sit back and relive a little of your own youth while your kids tear up and down the driveway.

Ed. Note: The boy’s Big Wheel is currently out of stock at Amazon and nobody knows if or when it’s coming back, but here’s the girl’s version of the Big Wheel, also for $29.99.

John is a geek dad of three living in upstate NY. He’s a programmer by day and a busy dad by night playing with kids and working on DIY projects around the house. John and his wife, Heather, run a parenting website that focuses on the fun of raising three kids by discussing our favorite toys, activities, and outings. Visit them at MyFamilyLovesIt.com.