Martin’s rusty Pedigree…

… or – a  joint restoration of a 1950’s Stroller

   We have recently had the pleasure of being involved in the restoration of a very rare pram, a 1960’s Pedigree Stroller. In fact, we only carried out the dismantling and the re-assembly of it.

   Dublin author and historian, Martin Coffey could not pass by this ‘piece of junk’ that he came across at a recent auction. He fell in love with the whole idea of bringing the Stroller back to life.

   As a brother of 14 siblings, Martin didn’t have an issue with sharing spaces. He is after all the middle child in a family of 15 children. His mother had one of these Strollers back in the early 1960’s and she managed to carry at least six of her young children in it, plus bags of turf, bottles of Gas and a whole weeks shopping.

   Martin was at a loss as to where he should begin with his restoration project. A little bird whispered in his ear that there was a ‘Pram Doctor’ somewhere in County Wexford and that he should check this out. Having seen a piece about the ‘Pram Doctor’ on the Internet from the television programme, ‘Nationwide’, Martin then made contact with Nina and it was then that the magic began

   Shortly after that, Martin arrived down to us in Wexford, where we shared many stories and yarns while disembowelling the little ‘Pedigree Stroller’, for the first stages of the restoration process.  

In early February, Martin brought his brother with him to help us out, to do all the slaver-work, while Martin kept himself busy taking photographs of the entire assembly process.  In little over an unforgettable 5 hours and plenty of slagging later

photo by M.Coffey

, we eventually re-assembled the stroller back to its former glory.

It’s to Martin now to put plenty of miles onto the ol’ rims when pushing his grandson through Dublin!

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Finding the right buggy/pram system…. it’s a lifestyle thing…

Finding the right buggy/pram system…. it’s a lifestyle thing…

Before setting the heart on a specific make/model, maybe you f

 

ind this list helpful:

1. What main use will the buggy/pram get? Your “main pram” For the childminder?
2. Does it have to fit into a small boot/hallway or is space no issue?
3. Do you live down a country lane or in town/city?
4. Do you plan to push the buggy often on the beach?
5. Are there any siblings to arrive in the near future?
6. Do you often enjoy shopping spins?
7. Would you want to go jogging with junior?
8. Will you bring it on flights and travels?
9. Would the buggy be put into the car on a daily basis?
10. Would the buggy have to be pulled up steps?
How versatile is the buggy/pram to accommodate several uses?
When a small collapsing umbrella fold stands in a small corner of the hallway, it is forward facing and is not ideal for long shopping trips as the parent facing models.

Small tiny wheels with small or no suspension will give not much trouble on walkways and hard surfaces but would get stuck down a country lane.

Or at the beach, wide wheels, pumped or not, will be a lot easier to push over the sand.
If you just starting your family, some of the adaptable sturdy singles would be very useful instead of long double tandem.

Did you know: most of the pram systems/buggies, even the sporty looking 3 wheelers, are not for jogging? The front wheels will start wobbling uncontrollably when pushed at a faster speed. With some pumped wheeled buggies, the front swivel wheel can be locked in place and a trot is possible. But most models would not satisfy a runner training for marathons. Advice is needed for the right buggy here.

To carry buggies on flights is like Russian roulette. Often luggage comes loose in the aircraft and tumbles directly onto the corner of your buggy and cracks the aluminium frame…. or this can happen due to lack of space etc. Before bringing your buggy to air travels, it should have a proper travel bag and air cushions inside (balloons) as impact puffers. Most airlines allow to hand over buggies at the gate before boarding the flight so that they can be used in the airport. It makes sense to familiarize oneself with dismantling and packing the buggy in the travel bag. But depending on the journey and the length of the trip, we would always advise to bring a cheap, expendable stroller if this would be sufficient for a toddler.

And because us moms are so busy these days, running from the house to the childminder, then go to work, back to the childminder, pick up junior, run to the shop, get the grocery, dash back home, and that all with a baby and a toddler, you want a good sturdy buggy that folds fast and you easily can take off wheels in the boot.
Other if you have no car and need to do a lot of walking and carrying home the shopping on your buggy. Then you don’t need a light weight designer buggy, it would not last a month.

Due to the number of repairs we are taking out on modern buggies, we have certain makes/models coming in with the same damages over and over.
Also older models are showing more signs of material fatigue now and this can be pin pointed to certain manufacturers. If it is a design fault or the detailed petite features in a collapsing mechanism these are things to mind or to watch out for when buying a second hand buggy.
Other higher priced buggies coming up with weak valves, poor fabrics and very fast corroding fittings or weak brakes. All that can be fixed, but this obviously would add to the cost.
As a continuation to this we will blog soon a few buying tips when hunting for a second hand bargain.
All the best
Nina xx

Be careful when buying Second Hand Car Seats!

updated version with image

The Pram Doctor's Blog

when parents to be brought a second hand car seat to us in November, I’ve pulled back the fabric to discover that the seller had “fixed” a previously broken polystyrene insert.

When buying a second hand car seat, please make sure that this is intact. If they are cracked, the child’s head will take the impact in a case of a crash.

Sticking them back together with sticky tape is not adequate. Replacing the car seat is the only thing to be done here.

have a safe journey in 2017!

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…ooops! and the handle is in two halves..

annoying when this happens: you have a crying baby, a wild toddler and just want to trot down to the shop to pick up a can of milk for supper. On the wild rush over the road and up the kerb all of a sudden the “crrrrxxxxx!” and the handle is in two parts…

I’m actually a great fan of the iCandy peach blossom models: it is a well balanced buggy with good proportioned attachments and it can be used as a single and a double. You can even bring it to the beach with it’s broad wheels. A fantastic buggy for couples just starting a family.

The thing with the handle is a home-made-design-faul: the press button and the screws either side of it and sub structure require pretty large cavities in the material of the metal tubing of the handle frame. Now, to collapse this buggy, you have to press the button by squeezing it and then push the handle forward to trigger off the folding mechanism.  In the long run, this is quite hard on the 1.3mm aluminum tube and it tends to crack. (with a rate of 95% of the peaches arriving here this is quite high.)

Our tip today is to slowly push the handle into the frame. That might delay the need to get this fixed.

Find more information here: http://thepramdoctor.ie/price_iCandy.html

all the best and cuddles to the Babies xx

yours Nina

the pram doctor

Welcome to Ireland’s Buggy and Pram Garage!

We have started this blog to let interested peep over our shoulders when we’re restoring prams, fixing and valeting buggies and customizing travel systems.

We come across plenty of odd things which we will share with you here.

We hope that you will enjoy our posts! And may they be informative, helpful but first of all: enjoyable!

All the best and a Happy New Year,

Bree, Co Wexford, 31st December 2016