I am writing this as a result of numerous requests and an incredible number of street stoppages by interested parents (how does is ride?), parent’s to be (do like it?), grandparents (where can I buy one for my kid?), kids (hey what a weird looking stroller!), construction workers (hey nice wheels son!).

Yes, the Buzz is a nice piece of machinery. It makes strolling around with Zubin a bit of an event, especially when the Bugaboos and Stokkes congregate like hot rodders at the Madison Park playground. Zubin likes it so far.

After the jump, some more pics and details. The stroller frame is mainly aluminum tubes, which gives it a nice industrial sort of visual strength. I mention the stroller frame separately, because we actually use two pieces as seats for Zubin. The Maxi-Cosi Cabrio carseat is a nice bit of kit in its own right, and it served as Zubin’s stroller seat right up until two weeks ago. Now that he has got a bit of sitting sorted out, we have started using the stroller piece. Although Quinny claims that you can use this thing from birth, we tried putting Zoo in there when he was three months and well, he was sliding around like penguin on a glacier. He loved it, but we thought that the carseat would be the parental thing to do.

The Buzz stroller seat is made of a soft weave type of fabric with upholstery around the appropriate parts. The sun shade is removable and uniquely has side panels which are translucent right at the front so the sun can be blocked from the top while you can look out the sides.

The whole unit is set on springs around the frame in three parts and it works well. The front wheel can be jittery at times, because it is the only one without a dedicated shock. The three-wheel shape invokes joggers and looks a bit sportier than four-wheel strollers even the Bugaboo. The rear wheels are massive and the soft, air-filled tires work well on bumps, curbs and when negotiating stairs. The wheels are about 1-2 inches wider apart than the Bugaboo, but the overall length is about 6-8 inches shorter.

I find that the folding of this stroller is a lot easier than the Bugaboo we tried in store. Now of course, by this time (had we bought the Bugaboo) I may have had time to practice, but the Buzz was quite easy from the first day. It folds straight down. No messing with the handle it just folds down, kind of like an ironing board. We must make some important observations here: Portability is not the strong suit of the Buzz. It is heavy, really and unwieldy when folded. The wheels are enormous, but I have yet to have to remove them for any car or taxi. One advantage is that you can fold it down with the seat on it. However this can only happen if the seat is facing out. Zubin being 6 months still faces us so we’ll hear more about that in a few months. The seriously unique feature of this premium pram is that it essentially unfolds itself. It is really cool. You get out of the cab, and lay it flat on the sidewalk and give it a kick. The frame rises up like its coming to life and lets out a hydraulic hiss (if only there were some steam). It is fresh, and it does in fact make handling the baby easier because you never have to put the carseat down on the sidewalk. It just pops in when the stroller pops up. I can dig it.

On occasion the Buzz’ build quality was a little suspect. A creak here and a rather wide tolerance there. Nothing to worry about though; we have banged this thing around a lot (Monisha likes to walk) and this summer, it has seen a lot of action with the nanny, grandparents, aunts, uncles and us. The folding mechanism for all its coolness uses a design afterthought-looking strap as a safety latch when folded. Beyond these slight issues, it’s a hot ride that handles extremely well. If the Bugaboo is the Benz of strollers, this is the Bimmer.