Review of the Silver Cross Zest Pushchair

We’ve been using the Silver Cross Zest pushchair for nearly a year now and thought it was about time we posted a review on it. There were a number of reasons that we bought the Zest in the first place (after doing a load of research on pushchairs) and we also have an old McClaren pushchair to compare to.

The Zest is either available online direct from Silver Cross or can be seen in store at Mothercare.

Why we bought the Siver Cross Zest Stroller

Here are the main reasons we choose the Zest stroller in the first place:

• It lays flat- our daughter takes naps fairly often in her pushchair so a flat-lying one was a must for more comfortable naps
• The hood is extendable and a UV filter- the more coverage the better with the hood and if it blocks the sun then all the better as we always take it on holiday with us
• The max user weight of 25 kg was higher than other strollers- we anticipated that our daughter would like a pushchair for quite a while longer so were looking for one that would suit older children as well
• Lightweight- we wanted one that would still go in and out the car easily with an umbrella fold
• Raincover- this was a must and the one included completely covers the full pushchair

How did the Zest pushchair perform?

Overall, we really love using our Zest pushchair and would recommend it if people had similar needs to ours.

The good things that we love are:

• The flat sleeping position (the bottom section flips up to make it even longer) which means even now our daughter at 3 can lay down for a comfortable nap.
• The raincover that really does a brilliant job of covering the whole pushchair (right down to the toes!) and anything hung off the back or in the basket underneath.
• The hood which really does cover (it zips out to extend fully) a lot and does a good job of blocking out any sun giving us peace of mind in the summer.
• The weight is not too heavy and it has a handy strap so it can be carried easily on a shoulder and is easy to lift in and out of the car.
• The wheels are smooth and easily manoeuvre up and down kerbs.
• The basket is a good size and can easily fit our Kid Transit travel changing mat!
• The five-point harness is easy to do up and easy to adjust on the shoulders and around the waist. This is in direct comparison with the McClaren buggy which has the most irritating harness ever! Adjusting it was so difficult I stopped bothering and just left it a bit loose all the time!

Things that annoy us about the Silver Cross Zest pushchair:

• The raincover is really large to store- it has to be pummeled into submission to get it flat enough to store in the buggy and so quite often I forget to have it with us when it rains (it is too big to put in the buggy all the time). I guess this is the payoff for it to be nice and large!
• The basket can’t be accessed once the pushchair is lain flat. Probably a common problem but frustrating if you don’t want to disturb your child but need something in the basket.
• The seat doesn’t seem to be as deep as others (compared with our McClaren pushchair for example). When our daughter sits in it she slips forward a bit. This is either the depth/ angle of the seat or the fabric being a bit smooth. It might be due to the design having a longer back to accommodate older children?
• The folding mechanism isn’t as smooth as other pushchairs, it’s still easy but it is a bit clunky.
• When folded the wheels contact the hood making it dirty. This is a common issue with umbrella fold pushchairs- if any of you have a great solution to this problem please tell me in the comments!

Silver Cross Zest Stroller – final thoughts

I’m glad that I did a bit of research before purchasing our pushchair as it definitely paid off. We love using the Zest and it has delivered well on the things that attacted us to it in the first place: lightweight, good space for naps, good raincover. If you’re going to be buying a new pushchair soon make sure you note down all the things that you want from it and then tailor your search to match. Take a look at the Silver Cross Zest as well- it could be right for you too!