For 2013, Maxi-Cosi have updated their excellent Streety Plus creating the Mix & Match. Do the detail changes and make a difference?
Quick Summary: If you spend most or all of your time in an urban environment and like the idea of a 'small folding' pushchair that has designs on a stroller, then I reckon the Maxi-Cosi Streety Plus Mix & Match will be... well, right up your street!
Whats good?
- Well made
- Adaptability
- Clever Fold
Whats not so good?
- Floppy hood
- weight
- So so raincover
We love the Streety Plus giving it 4.5 stars in our review last year. Maxi-Cosi has sent us the Streety Plus Mix and Match to cast our eye over. It’s exactly the same as the Maxi-Cosi Streety Plus, but you can now change your style as you wish by buying colours packs. See what we think in our Maxi-Cosi Streety Plus Mix & Match review.
Chassis
Our Streety Plus Mix & Match chassis is resplendent in super cool matt black. Its looks are enhanced by the swoopy black tubular design that has – believe it or not, been dictated by the fold!
The chassis has the usual Maxi-Cosi quality we have come to expect with an abundance of high quality mouldings. All the various parts required for assembly such as the rivits have been painted with the same matt black as the chassis and this really sets of the design ensuring you are in no doubt of the detail that has gone into this product. At 12.6kgs, it is however, a little on the heavy side.
Starting at the top, the handle on the Maxi-Cosi Streety Plus Mix & Match is non-adjustable (due to the fold design). Don’t let this put you off because at 101cm it hits the spot – almost….. For some shorter mums, you may find it just a little too high. Popping up a kerb is easy though as the Streety Plus has a convenient foot pad in the centre at the rear of the frame to assist.
The basket is a nice size at 40cm x 40cm x 17cm (deepest point) and there is excellent access from the rear with the seat forward facing and good access from the front with the seat parent facing. There is enough room for a couple of bags of shopping. The basket itself is made of a strong mesh material and looks tough enough to deal with most normal loads.
All four wheels are 7 inches in diameter and come with solid rubber tyres. This is a true urban pushchair by design and they will be great when you hit the city.
Suspension is present at the rear only, but is great, providing plenty of travel and having the right balance between too soft and too firm. It’s certain to give a comfy ride.
Lastly, the Maxi-Cosi Streety Plus Mix & Match brake is a left hand side off, right hand side on affair. It’s great for lovers of open toe shoes as you only ever have to push down to operate it. Only thing is, well, it’s just a little how can I say it, sticky. It feels as if you have pushed it on far enough, and then you find you can push it on some more. Also the actual pad that you push the pedal with faces away from you, this is really a small detail, but if you have thin shoes, you will notice when you push down on the corner of the brake pad.
The Seat on the Maxi-Cosi Streety Plus Mix & Match is a weird one, not weird as in bad, just weird as in unexpected. When you first get it out of the box, it feels pretty limp and a bit useless, once fitted to the chassis though is all makes sense and it is parent or world facing.
The chassis uses a 3D fold to make it very compact and this necessitates a collapsible seat unit. It’s strange at first glance as out of the box the collapsed seat seems very narrow however, slot it into one side and stretch it across to slot it into the other and normality is resumed.
The seat is 33cm wide and has a back height of 47cm. It’s not the biggest, but by no means is it the smallest.
The 3 position recline is done by two triggers at the rear, much like a gun trigger actually! Its quite a nice way to execute the recline release. Although the method is great, the execution does not quite feel perfect. You never quite know if you have it locked in place properly. Its never a problem as it always locks where you want it, it just never feels as positive as you would like.
The Streety Plus Mix & Match comes with a bumper bar. Once again, this is collapsible as you can fold the pushchair with the seat forward facing. Its covered in a really nice rubber material that I have not seen used before. The bumper bar is gate opening which is achieved by pressing a grey button underneath the point where it locates. It’s simple and works very well.
Moving the seat from Parent to World facing and vice versa takes only seconds. Push in the grey button on each side (they stay latched as you do this) and then lift the seat off. Turn it round and fit one side, stretch the seat open and then fit the other.
Lastly the Streety Plus Mix & Match’s hood comes separate to the seat. The hood is fitted by pushing two clips into place just in front of the seat back. Next take the back of the hood over the seat back and pull the elastic round the recline triggers. There are no bells and whistles here, no peep window or flip out sunshade, just a simple hood, that actually feels a little flimsy.
That simple hood does have one party trick though. If your seat is in the upright position, you can pull the hood a LONG way down giving amazing shade, the bottom edge of the hood almost goes horizontal. Brilliant.
The Maxi-Cosi Streety Plus Mix & Match fold is unique, but you know what I really like it. It can be folded with the seat on in world facing mode. If you are in parent facing mode, you will have to remove the seat.
I am going to explain the fold with the seat on. First, twist the portion of the handle that sits at the centre, forward. This will unlock the handle and the centre of the frame ready for folding. Next, press the grey button on the right hand side where the seat connects to the chassis. The Chassis will begin to collapse within itself. Push the handle forward and down and then reach down and grab the grey handle that is behind the seat. Pull this up to the main handle and put on the lock. Done. It sounds complicated, but it is really easy. The Streety Plus will now freestand.
To unfold, undo the lock. Holding the handles either side, put your foot on the centre footpad and push and pull. The pushchair pops open and locks into place.
Conclusion
When we last reviewed the Maxi-Cosi Streety Plus, we gave it 4.5 stars. I think the Mix & Match is equally as good.
The hood is not perfect and the raincover is still a little simple, but, aside from that it is an excellent product. Add to this the Mix & Match customising option and you get a very attractive product you can use from birth with a great range of Maxi-Cosi accessories.
If you spend most or all of your time in an urban environment and like the idea of a ‘small folding’ pushchair that has designs on a stroller, then I reckon the Maxi-Cosi Streety Plus Mix & Match will be… well, right up your street!
