Thule Shine Review (2023): Compact and Adjustable
“town walkers”. a tricky term for me. It appears to be a hybrid – kind of compact, kind of light, but still with some heavier, fancier features. Most of the time it seems like an excuse for a higher price – popular city strollers can be retailed for it well over a giant.
Therefore, Thule was not my first choice for the best stroller in this category. When I think of Thule I think of jogging To go bikingand camping travel products, both with and without my child. But Thule’s new Shine stroller has become my favorite for walking around the area. To put it to the test, I stuffed it in the trunk of my limousine and took it to shops, restaurants and other various trips to capture the glimpse of city life in my beach suburban town.
I even dropped it off at my parents’ house while they were babysitting so they could try it out, and then received text messages from my dad about how easy it was to use and photos from my mom of my son fast asleep while she was doing it went for a walk.
Bend and snap
Photo: Thule
The Shine is initially in the parent-facing position when you assemble it. However, it’s easy to take the seat out, flip it, and face your child forward instead. Thule also sells a $200 bassinet attachmentwhen using the shine on a newborn, and a click-in adapter for car seats from Maxi-Cosi, Cybex and Nuna, among others.
There are a few recline angles that you can adjust by pushing the lever on the back of the seat. However, I found that it works best if you fold the seat all the way down and then flip it back into the desired position. I liked that it was adjustable enough so we could experiment to see if my son was ready to stand fully upright (spoiler alert: he was).
The handlebar has four heights that you can adjust by pressing the big button on the handlebar and either pushing or pulling the handlebar to the other position (although if you’re going too fast it’s easy to miss the middle two options). My parents especially liked the easy way to change the handlebar position. My mother is just 1.50m tall and my father is 1.80m tall, so they preferred extremely different height settings. Both talked about how comfortable they found the height of the handlebars.
When fully folding the Shine, the lever on the back of the seat is also used in addition to the handle. You fold the seat flat, then press two buttons on the handle and fold the whole thing down. As it does so, another small handle pops open so you can easily pick up your child and walk around while holding them, even for a wimp like me (he weighs about 20 pounds). It can also be left standing when folded.
